diff --git a/AUTHORS b/AUTHORS
index 69c224df056..22690031036 100644
--- a/AUTHORS
+++ b/AUTHORS
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ Other contributors, listed alphabetically, are:
 * Joel Wurtz -- cellspanning support in LaTeX
 * Hong Xu -- svg support in imgmath extension and various bug fixes
 * Stephen Finucane -- setup command improvements and documentation
+* Daniel Pizetta -- inheritance diagram improvements
 
 Many thanks for all contributions!
 
diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 32ce56d6bba..c31bba21bdf 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ Features added
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
+* #4019: inheritance_diagram AttributeError stoping make process
 
 Testing
 --------
diff --git a/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py b/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
index 7a1366b2676..6f8256662a7 100644
--- a/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
+++ b/sphinx/ext/inheritance_diagram.py
@@ -75,14 +75,20 @@ def try_import(objname):
     try:
         __import__(objname)
         return sys.modules.get(objname)  # type: ignore
-    except ImportError:
-        modname, attrname = module_sig_re.match(objname).groups()  # type: ignore
+    except (ImportError, ValueError):  # ValueError,py27 -> ImportError,py3
+        matched = module_sig_re.match(objname)  # type: ignore
+
+        if not matched:
+            return None
+
+        modname, attrname = matched.groups()
+
         if modname is None:
             return None
         try:
             __import__(modname)
             return getattr(sys.modules.get(modname), attrname, None)
-        except ImportError:
+        except (ImportError, ValueError):  # ValueError,py27 -> ImportError,py3
             return None
 
 
diff --git a/tests/test_ext_inheritance_diagram.py b/tests/test_ext_inheritance_diagram.py
index deb04ce157e..ed79729e637 100644
--- a/tests/test_ext_inheritance_diagram.py
+++ b/tests/test_ext_inheritance_diagram.py
@@ -83,6 +83,15 @@ def test_import_classes(rootdir):
         with pytest.raises(InheritanceException):
             import_classes('unknown.Unknown', None)
 
+        # got exception InheritanceException for wrong class or module
+        # not AttributeError (refs: #4019)
+        with pytest.raises(InheritanceException):
+            import_classes('unknown', '.')
+        with pytest.raises(InheritanceException):
+            import_classes('unknown.Unknown', '.')
+        with pytest.raises(InheritanceException):
+            import_classes('.', None)
+
         # a module having no classes
         classes = import_classes('sphinx', None)
         assert classes == []