diff --git a/mesonbuild/scripts/meson_install.py b/mesonbuild/scripts/meson_install.py
index 2a23f8161..f895f17d6 100644
--- a/mesonbuild/scripts/meson_install.py
+++ b/mesonbuild/scripts/meson_install.py
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ def run_install_script(d):
             rc = subprocess.call(script + args, env=child_env)
             if rc != 0:
                 sys.exit(rc)
-        except Exception:
+        except OSError:
             print('Failed to run install script {!r}'.format(name))
             sys.exit(1)
 
diff --git a/test cases/common/72 build always/version_gen.py b/test cases/common/72 build always/version_gen.py
index 17e613e1c..fbe2df93f 100755
--- a/test cases/common/72 build always/version_gen.py	
+++ b/test cases/common/72 build always/version_gen.py	
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ def generate(infile, outfile, fallback):
         workdir = '.'
     try:
         version = subprocess.check_output(['git', 'describe'], cwd=workdir).decode().strip()
-    except Exception:
+    except (subprocess.CalledProcessError, OSError, UnicodeDecodeError):
         version = fallback
     with open(infile) as f:
         newdata = f.read().replace('@VERSION@', version)
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ def generate(infile, outfile, fallback):
             olddata = f.read()
         if olddata == newdata:
             return
-    except Exception:
+    except OSError:
         pass
     with open(outfile, 'w') as f:
         f.write(newdata)