diff --git a/Doc/library/smtplib.rst b/Doc/library/smtplib.rst
index 8f5ca0a..52220f7 100644
--- a/Doc/library/smtplib.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/smtplib.rst
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
    than a success code, an :exc:`SMTPConnectError` is raised. The optional
    *timeout* parameter specifies a timeout in seconds for blocking operations
    like the connection attempt (if not specified, the global default timeout
-   setting will be used).  If the timeout expires, :exc:`socket.timeout` is
+   setting will be used).  If the timeout expires, :exc:`TimeoutError` is
    raised.  The optional source_address parameter allows binding
    to some specific source address in a machine with multiple network
    interfaces, and/or to some specific source TCP port. It takes a 2-tuple
diff --git a/Doc/library/socket.rst b/Doc/library/socket.rst
index faf8a76..d52b84f 100755
--- a/Doc/library/socket.rst
+++ b/Doc/library/socket.rst
@@ -283,6 +283,8 @@
 
 .. exception:: timeout
 
+   A deprecated alias of :exc:`TimeoutError`.
+
    A subclass of :exc:`OSError`, this exception is raised when a timeout
    occurs on a socket which has had timeouts enabled via a prior call to
    :meth:`~socket.settimeout` (or implicitly through
@@ -292,6 +294,9 @@
    .. versionchanged:: 3.3
       This class was made a subclass of :exc:`OSError`.
 
+   .. versionchanged:: 3.10
+      This class was made an alias of :exc:`TimeoutError`.
+
 
 Constants
 ^^^^^^^^^
@@ -1208,7 +1213,7 @@
    address family --- see above.)
 
    If the connection is interrupted by a signal, the method waits until the
-   connection completes, or raise a :exc:`socket.timeout` on timeout, if the
+   connection completes, or raise a :exc:`TimeoutError` on timeout, if the
    signal handler doesn't raise an exception and the socket is blocking or has
    a timeout. For non-blocking sockets, the method raises an
    :exc:`InterruptedError` exception if the connection is interrupted by a
diff --git a/Doc/whatsnew/3.10.rst b/Doc/whatsnew/3.10.rst
index ad0ec4d..826d127 100644
--- a/Doc/whatsnew/3.10.rst
+++ b/Doc/whatsnew/3.10.rst
@@ -263,6 +263,12 @@
 When a module does not define ``__loader__``, fall back to ``__spec__.loader``.
 (Contributed by Brett Cannon in :issue:`42133`.)
 
+socket
+------
+
+The exception :exc:`socket.timeout` is now an alias of :exc:`TimeoutError`.
+(Contributed by Christian Heimes in :issue:`42413`.)
+
 sys
 ---
 
diff --git a/Lib/http/server.py b/Lib/http/server.py
index fa204fb..ee99182 100644
--- a/Lib/http/server.py
+++ b/Lib/http/server.py
@@ -414,7 +414,7 @@ def handle_one_request(self):
             method = getattr(self, mname)
             method()
             self.wfile.flush() #actually send the response if not already done.
-        except socket.timeout as e:
+        except TimeoutError as e:
             #a read or a write timed out.  Discard this connection
             self.log_error("Request timed out: %r", e)
             self.close_connection = True
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/pyshell.py b/Lib/idlelib/pyshell.py
index b69916d..343d2ef 100755
--- a/Lib/idlelib/pyshell.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/pyshell.py
@@ -463,7 +463,7 @@ def start_subprocess(self):
         self.rpcclt.listening_sock.settimeout(10)
         try:
             self.rpcclt.accept()
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             self.display_no_subprocess_error()
             return None
         self.rpcclt.register("console", self.tkconsole)
@@ -498,7 +498,7 @@ def restart_subprocess(self, with_cwd=False, filename=''):
         self.spawn_subprocess()
         try:
             self.rpcclt.accept()
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             self.display_no_subprocess_error()
             return None
         self.transfer_path(with_cwd=with_cwd)
diff --git a/Lib/socket.py b/Lib/socket.py
index cafa573..54a3807 100755
--- a/Lib/socket.py
+++ b/Lib/socket.py
@@ -377,7 +377,7 @@ def _sendfile_use_sendfile(self, file, offset=0, count=None):
             try:
                 while True:
                     if timeout and not selector_select(timeout):
-                        raise _socket.timeout('timed out')
+                        raise TimeoutError('timed out')
                     if count:
                         blocksize = count - total_sent
                         if blocksize <= 0:
diff --git a/Lib/test/support/socket_helper.py b/Lib/test/support/socket_helper.py
index 7070c12..e78712b 100644
--- a/Lib/test/support/socket_helper.py
+++ b/Lib/test/support/socket_helper.py
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ def transient_internet(resource_name, *, timeout=_NOT_SET, errnos=()):
 
     def filter_error(err):
         n = getattr(err, 'errno', None)
-        if (isinstance(err, socket.timeout) or
+        if (isinstance(err, TimeoutError) or
             (isinstance(err, socket.gaierror) and n in gai_errnos) or
             (isinstance(err, urllib.error.HTTPError) and
              500 <= err.code <= 599) or
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncio/functional.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncio/functional.py
index 5cd0659..74490a8 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncio/functional.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncio/functional.py
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ def _run(self):
                     conn, addr = self._sock.accept()
                 except BlockingIOError:
                     continue
-                except socket.timeout:
+                except TimeoutError:
                     if not self._active:
                         return
                     else:
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
index 06c6bc2..3bd904d 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_asyncore.py
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ def capture_server(evt, buf, serv):
     try:
         serv.listen()
         conn, addr = serv.accept()
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     else:
         n = 200
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_exception_hierarchy.py b/Lib/test/test_exception_hierarchy.py
index 43b4af8..89fe9dd 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_exception_hierarchy.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_exception_hierarchy.py
@@ -40,10 +40,10 @@ def test_builtin_errors(self):
         self.assertIs(EnvironmentError, OSError)
 
     def test_socket_errors(self):
-        self.assertIs(socket.error, IOError)
+        self.assertIs(socket.error, OSError)
         self.assertIs(socket.gaierror.__base__, OSError)
         self.assertIs(socket.herror.__base__, OSError)
-        self.assertIs(socket.timeout.__base__, OSError)
+        self.assertIs(socket.timeout, TimeoutError)
 
     def test_select_error(self):
         self.assertIs(select.error, OSError)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py b/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py
index 39658f2..2424911 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ftplib.py
@@ -1036,7 +1036,7 @@ def server(self):
         self.evt.set()
         try:
             conn, addr = self.sock.accept()
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             pass
         else:
             conn.sendall(b"1 Hola mundo\n")
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_imaplib.py b/Lib/test/test_imaplib.py
index 96bcb09..0cab789 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_imaplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_imaplib.py
@@ -476,7 +476,7 @@ def handle(self):
 
         _, server = self._setup(TimeoutHandler)
         addr = server.server_address[1]
-        with self.assertRaises(socket.timeout):
+        with self.assertRaises(TimeoutError):
             client = self.imap_class("localhost", addr, timeout=0.001)
 
     def test_with_statement(self):
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_poplib.py b/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
index 2ac345d..5488683 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_poplib.py
@@ -501,7 +501,7 @@ def server(self, evt, serv):
             conn, addr = serv.accept()
             conn.send(b"+ Hola mundo\n")
             conn.close()
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             pass
         finally:
             serv.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_signal.py b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
index c656790..5a8ff36 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_signal.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_signal.py
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ def handler(signum, frame):
                 while True:
                     write.send(chunk)
                     written += chunk_size
-            except (BlockingIOError, socket.timeout):
+            except (BlockingIOError, TimeoutError):
                 pass
 
         print(f"%s bytes written into the socketpair" % written, flush=True)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_smtplib.py b/Lib/test/test_smtplib.py
index 7816ed3..9198538 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_smtplib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_smtplib.py
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ def server(evt, buf, serv):
     evt.set()
     try:
         conn, addr = serv.accept()
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     else:
         n = 500
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def debugging_server(serv, serv_evt, client_evt):
 
             n -= 1
 
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     finally:
         if not client_evt.is_set():
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_socket.py b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
index 8063832..5f57ab2 100755
--- a/Lib/test/test_socket.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_socket.py
@@ -1611,7 +1611,7 @@ def raising_handler(*args):
             if with_timeout:
                 signal.signal(signal.SIGALRM, ok_handler)
                 signal.alarm(1)
-                self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, c.sendall,
+                self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, c.sendall,
                                   b"x" * support.SOCK_MAX_SIZE)
         finally:
             signal.alarm(0)
@@ -2966,7 +2966,7 @@ def _testSendmsgTimeout(self):
             try:
                 while True:
                     self.sendmsgToServer([b"a"*512])
-            except socket.timeout:
+            except TimeoutError:
                 pass
             except OSError as exc:
                 if exc.errno != errno.ENOMEM:
@@ -2974,7 +2974,7 @@ def _testSendmsgTimeout(self):
                 # bpo-33937 the test randomly fails on Travis CI with
                 # "OSError: [Errno 12] Cannot allocate memory"
             else:
-                self.fail("socket.timeout not raised")
+                self.fail("TimeoutError not raised")
         finally:
             self.misc_event.set()
 
@@ -3109,7 +3109,7 @@ def testRecvmsgTimeout(self):
         # Check that timeout works.
         try:
             self.serv_sock.settimeout(0.03)
-            self.assertRaises(socket.timeout,
+            self.assertRaises(TimeoutError,
                               self.doRecvmsg, self.serv_sock, len(MSG))
         finally:
             self.misc_event.set()
@@ -4827,7 +4827,7 @@ def testReadAfterTimeout(self):
         self.cli_conn.settimeout(1)
         self.read_file.read(3)
         # First read raises a timeout
-        self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, self.read_file.read, 1)
+        self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, self.read_file.read, 1)
         # Second read is disallowed
         with self.assertRaises(OSError) as ctx:
             self.read_file.read(1)
@@ -5092,7 +5092,7 @@ class NetworkConnectionNoServer(unittest.TestCase):
 
     class MockSocket(socket.socket):
         def connect(self, *args):
-            raise socket.timeout('timed out')
+            raise TimeoutError('timed out')
 
     @contextlib.contextmanager
     def mocked_socket_module(self):
@@ -5142,13 +5142,13 @@ def test_create_connection_timeout(self):
         with self.mocked_socket_module():
             try:
                 socket.create_connection((HOST, 1234))
-            except socket.timeout:
+            except TimeoutError:
                 pass
             except OSError as exc:
                 if socket_helper.IPV6_ENABLED or exc.errno != errno.EAFNOSUPPORT:
                     raise
             else:
-                self.fail('socket.timeout not raised')
+                self.fail('TimeoutError not raised')
 
 
 class NetworkConnectionAttributesTest(SocketTCPTest, ThreadableTest):
@@ -5250,7 +5250,7 @@ def _testInsideTimeout(self):
 
     def _testOutsideTimeout(self):
         self.cli = sock = socket.create_connection((HOST, self.port), timeout=1)
-        self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, lambda: sock.recv(5))
+        self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, lambda: sock.recv(5))
 
 
 class TCPTimeoutTest(SocketTCPTest):
@@ -5259,7 +5259,7 @@ def testTCPTimeout(self):
         def raise_timeout(*args, **kwargs):
             self.serv.settimeout(1.0)
             self.serv.accept()
-        self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, raise_timeout,
+        self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, raise_timeout,
                               "Error generating a timeout exception (TCP)")
 
     def testTimeoutZero(self):
@@ -5267,7 +5267,7 @@ def testTimeoutZero(self):
         try:
             self.serv.settimeout(0.0)
             foo = self.serv.accept()
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             self.fail("caught timeout instead of error (TCP)")
         except OSError:
             ok = True
@@ -5292,7 +5292,7 @@ def alarm_handler(signal, frame):
             try:
                 signal.alarm(2)    # POSIX allows alarm to be up to 1 second early
                 foo = self.serv.accept()
-            except socket.timeout:
+            except TimeoutError:
                 self.fail("caught timeout instead of Alarm")
             except Alarm:
                 pass
@@ -5316,7 +5316,7 @@ def testUDPTimeout(self):
         def raise_timeout(*args, **kwargs):
             self.serv.settimeout(1.0)
             self.serv.recv(1024)
-        self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, raise_timeout,
+        self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, raise_timeout,
                               "Error generating a timeout exception (UDP)")
 
     def testTimeoutZero(self):
@@ -5324,7 +5324,7 @@ def testTimeoutZero(self):
         try:
             self.serv.settimeout(0.0)
             foo = self.serv.recv(1024)
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             self.fail("caught timeout instead of error (UDP)")
         except OSError:
             ok = True
@@ -5341,7 +5341,7 @@ def testUDPLITETimeout(self):
         def raise_timeout(*args, **kwargs):
             self.serv.settimeout(1.0)
             self.serv.recv(1024)
-        self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, raise_timeout,
+        self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, raise_timeout,
                               "Error generating a timeout exception (UDPLITE)")
 
     def testTimeoutZero(self):
@@ -5349,7 +5349,7 @@ def testTimeoutZero(self):
         try:
             self.serv.settimeout(0.0)
             foo = self.serv.recv(1024)
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             self.fail("caught timeout instead of error (UDPLITE)")
         except OSError:
             ok = True
@@ -5365,6 +5365,8 @@ def testExceptionTree(self):
         self.assertTrue(issubclass(socket.herror, OSError))
         self.assertTrue(issubclass(socket.gaierror, OSError))
         self.assertTrue(issubclass(socket.timeout, OSError))
+        self.assertIs(socket.error, OSError)
+        self.assertIs(socket.timeout, TimeoutError)
 
     def test_setblocking_invalidfd(self):
         # Regression test for issue #28471
@@ -6167,7 +6169,7 @@ def _testWithTimeoutTriggeredSend(self):
             with socket.create_connection(address) as sock:
                 sock.settimeout(0.01)
                 meth = self.meth_from_sock(sock)
-                self.assertRaises(socket.timeout, meth, file)
+                self.assertRaises(TimeoutError, meth, file)
 
     def testWithTimeoutTriggeredSend(self):
         conn = self.accept_conn()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
index 8744e59..e5cd962 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_ssl.py
@@ -2574,7 +2574,7 @@ def run(self):
                 handler = self.ConnectionHandler(self, newconn, connaddr)
                 handler.start()
                 handler.join()
-            except socket.timeout:
+            except TimeoutError:
                 pass
             except KeyboardInterrupt:
                 self.stop()
@@ -3691,7 +3691,7 @@ def serve():
                 c.settimeout(0.2)
                 c.connect((host, port))
                 # Will attempt handshake and time out
-                self.assertRaisesRegex(socket.timeout, "timed out",
+                self.assertRaisesRegex(TimeoutError, "timed out",
                                        test_wrap_socket, c)
             finally:
                 c.close()
@@ -3700,7 +3700,7 @@ def serve():
                 c = test_wrap_socket(c)
                 c.settimeout(0.2)
                 # Will attempt handshake and time out
-                self.assertRaisesRegex(socket.timeout, "timed out",
+                self.assertRaisesRegex(TimeoutError, "timed out",
                                        c.connect, (host, port))
             finally:
                 c.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_telnetlib.py b/Lib/test/test_telnetlib.py
index 7633901..8e36051 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_telnetlib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_telnetlib.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def server(evt, serv):
     try:
         conn, addr = serv.accept()
         conn.close()
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     finally:
         serv.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_timeout.py b/Lib/test/test_timeout.py
index ac803f5..823d5c3 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_timeout.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_timeout.py
@@ -122,7 +122,7 @@ def _sock_operation(self, count, timeout, method, *args):
         """
         Test the specified socket method.
 
-        The method is run at most `count` times and must raise a socket.timeout
+        The method is run at most `count` times and must raise a TimeoutError
         within `timeout` + self.fuzz seconds.
         """
         self.sock.settimeout(timeout)
@@ -131,11 +131,11 @@ def _sock_operation(self, count, timeout, method, *args):
             t1 = time.monotonic()
             try:
                 method(*args)
-            except socket.timeout as e:
+            except TimeoutError as e:
                 delta = time.monotonic() - t1
                 break
         else:
-            self.fail('socket.timeout was not raised')
+            self.fail('TimeoutError was not raised')
         # These checks should account for timing unprecision
         self.assertLess(delta, timeout + self.fuzz)
         self.assertGreater(delta, timeout - 1.0)
@@ -204,7 +204,7 @@ def testConnectTimeout(self):
         sock.settimeout(timeout)
         try:
             sock.connect((whitehole))
-        except socket.timeout:
+        except TimeoutError:
             pass
         except OSError as err:
             if err.errno == errno.ECONNREFUSED:
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
index c1d55ee..4750ad9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib2net.py
@@ -277,7 +277,7 @@ def _test_urls(self, urls, handlers, retry=True):
                                  ioerror_peer_reset:
                                 buf = f.read()
                                 debug("read %d bytes" % len(buf))
-                        except socket.timeout:
+                        except TimeoutError:
                             print("<timeout: %s>" % url, file=sys.stderr)
                         f.close()
                 time.sleep(0.1)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
index 3dfa84b..c54aeb1 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xmlrpc.py
@@ -648,7 +648,7 @@ def _(x, y):
             serv.handle_request()
             numrequests -= 1
 
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     finally:
         serv.socket.close()
@@ -713,7 +713,7 @@ def _marshaled_dispatch(self, data, dispatch_method=None, path=None):
             serv.handle_request()
             numrequests -= 1
 
-    except socket.timeout:
+    except TimeoutError:
         pass
     finally:
         serv.socket.close()
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-11-19-20-27-51.bpo-42413.fjHrHx.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-11-19-20-27-51.bpo-42413.fjHrHx.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..ef1bf0f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2020-11-19-20-27-51.bpo-42413.fjHrHx.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+The exception :exc:`socket.timeout` is now an alias of :exc:`TimeoutError`.
diff --git a/Modules/_ssl.c b/Modules/_ssl.c
index 54c365b..a34313b 100644
--- a/Modules/_ssl.c
+++ b/Modules/_ssl.c
@@ -1102,7 +1102,7 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_do_handshake_impl(PySSLSocket *self)
         }
 
         if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_TIMED_OUT) {
-            PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                             ERRSTR("The handshake operation timed out"));
             goto error;
         } else if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_BEEN_CLOSED) {
@@ -2419,7 +2419,7 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
 
     sockstate = PySSL_select(sock, 1, timeout);
     if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_TIMED_OUT) {
-        PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                         "The write operation timed out");
         goto error;
     } else if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_BEEN_CLOSED) {
@@ -2454,7 +2454,7 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_write_impl(PySSLSocket *self, Py_buffer *b)
         }
 
         if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_TIMED_OUT) {
-            PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                             "The write operation timed out");
             goto error;
         } else if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_BEEN_CLOSED) {
@@ -2609,7 +2609,7 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_read_impl(PySSLSocket *self, int len, int group_right_1,
             sockstate = SOCKET_OPERATION_OK;
 
         if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_TIMED_OUT) {
-            PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                             "The read operation timed out");
             goto error;
         } else if (sockstate == SOCKET_IS_NONBLOCKING) {
@@ -2724,10 +2724,10 @@ _ssl__SSLSocket_shutdown_impl(PySSLSocket *self)
 
         if (sockstate == SOCKET_HAS_TIMED_OUT) {
             if (err.ssl == SSL_ERROR_WANT_READ)
-                PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                                 "The read operation timed out");
             else
-                PyErr_SetString(PySocketModule.timeout_error,
+                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError,
                                 "The write operation timed out");
             goto error;
         }
diff --git a/Modules/socketmodule.c b/Modules/socketmodule.c
index d773836..f8e4de5 100644
--- a/Modules/socketmodule.c
+++ b/Modules/socketmodule.c
@@ -514,7 +514,6 @@ remove_unusable_flags(PyObject *m)
    by this module (but not argument type or memory errors, etc.). */
 static PyObject *socket_herror;
 static PyObject *socket_gaierror;
-static PyObject *socket_timeout;
 
 /* A forward reference to the socket type object.
    The sock_type variable contains pointers to various functions,
@@ -886,7 +885,7 @@ sock_call_ex(PySocketSockObject *s,
                 if (err)
                     *err = SOCK_TIMEOUT_ERR;
                 else
-                    PyErr_SetString(socket_timeout, "timed out");
+                    PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError, "timed out");
                 return -1;
             }
 
@@ -2880,7 +2879,7 @@ sock_settimeout(PySocketSockObject *s, PyObject *arg)
     /* Blocking mode for a Python socket object means that operations
        like :meth:`recv` or :meth:`sendall` will block the execution of
        the current thread until they are complete or aborted with a
-       `socket.timeout` or `socket.error` errors.  When timeout is `None`,
+       `TimeoutError` or `socket.error` errors.  When timeout is `None`,
        the underlying FD is in a blocking mode.  When timeout is a positive
        number, the FD is in a non-blocking mode, and socket ops are
        implemented with a `select()` call.
@@ -4206,7 +4205,7 @@ sock_sendall(PySocketSockObject *s, PyObject *args)
             }
 
             if (interval <= 0) {
-                PyErr_SetString(socket_timeout, "timed out");
+                PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TimeoutError, "timed out");
                 goto done;
             }
         }
@@ -7123,13 +7122,10 @@ PyInit__socket(void)
         return NULL;
     Py_INCREF(socket_gaierror);
     PyModule_AddObject(m, "gaierror", socket_gaierror);
-    socket_timeout = PyErr_NewException("socket.timeout",
-                                        PyExc_OSError, NULL);
-    if (socket_timeout == NULL)
-        return NULL;
-    PySocketModuleAPI.timeout_error = socket_timeout;
-    Py_INCREF(socket_timeout);
-    PyModule_AddObject(m, "timeout", socket_timeout);
+
+    PySocketModuleAPI.timeout_error = PyExc_TimeoutError;
+    PyModule_AddObjectRef(m, "timeout", PyExc_TimeoutError);
+
     Py_INCREF((PyObject *)&sock_type);
     if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "SocketType",
                            (PyObject *)&sock_type) != 0)