diff --git a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
index f63d88c..ca7aad8 100644
--- a/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
+++ b/Modules/_sqlite/connection.c
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@
      * segfaults, depending on the SQLite version */
 #if SQLITE_VERSION_NUMBER >= 3003003
     sqlite3_result_error(ctx, errmsg, len);
+#else
+    PyErr_SetString(OperationalError, errmsg);
 #endif
 }