diff --git a/sentry_auth_gitlab/client.py b/sentry_auth_gitlab/client.py
index dce93eb..dbb670f 100644
--- a/sentry_auth_gitlab/client.py
+++ b/sentry_auth_gitlab/client.py
@@ -14,16 +14,15 @@ def __init__(self, message='', status=None):
 
 
 class GitLabClient(object):
-    http = http.build_session()
-
     def _request(self, path, access_token):
+        session = http.build_session()
         headers = {'Authorization': 'Bearer {0}'.format(access_token)}
         url = '{0}/{1}'.format(API_BASE_URL, path.lstrip('/'))
 
         try:
-            req = self.http.get(url, headers=headers)
+            req = session.get(url, headers=headers)
         except RequestException as e:
-            raise GitLabApiError(unicode(e), status=e.status_code)
+            raise GitLabApiError(unicode(e), status=getattr(e, 'status_code', None))
         return json.loads(req.content)
 
     def get_user(self, access_token):