diff --git a/python-package/xgboost/sklearn.py b/python-package/xgboost/sklearn.py
index c89cdb0b5..e4f45441b 100644
--- a/python-package/xgboost/sklearn.py
+++ b/python-package/xgboost/sklearn.py
@@ -518,7 +518,7 @@ class XGBModel(XGBModelBase):
         feature_importances_ : array of shape ``[n_features]``
 
         """
-        if self.booster != 'gbtree':
+        if getattr(self, 'booster', None) is not None and self.booster != 'gbtree':
             raise AttributeError('Feature importance is not defined for Booster type {}'
                                  .format(self.booster))
         b = self.get_booster()
@@ -542,7 +542,7 @@ class XGBModel(XGBModelBase):
         -------
         coef_ : array of shape ``[n_features]`` or ``[n_classes, n_features]``
         """
-        if self.booster != 'gblinear':
+        if getattr(self, 'booster', None) is not None and self.booster != 'gblinear':
             raise AttributeError('Coefficients are not defined for Booster type {}'
                                  .format(self.booster))
         b = self.get_booster()
@@ -571,7 +571,7 @@ class XGBModel(XGBModelBase):
         -------
         intercept_ : array of shape ``(1,)`` or ``[n_classes]``
         """
-        if self.booster != 'gblinear':
+        if getattr(self, 'booster', None) is not None and self.booster != 'gblinear':
             raise AttributeError('Intercept (bias) is not defined for Booster type {}'
                                  .format(self.booster))
         b = self.get_booster()