diff --git a/Modules/timemodule.c b/Modules/timemodule.c
index 7a2f02a..c688091 100644
--- a/Modules/timemodule.c
+++ b/Modules/timemodule.c
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@
 		if (errno == 0)
 			errno = EINVAL;
 #endif
-		return PyErr_SetFromErrno(PyExc_IOError);
+		return PyErr_SetFromErrno(PyExc_ValueError);
 	}
 	return tmtotuple(p);
 }