diff --git a/ipalib/errors.py b/ipalib/errors.py
index 36df0690e..9c40981ff 100644
--- a/ipalib/errors.py
+++ b/ipalib/errors.py
@@ -89,7 +89,7 @@ def check_isinstance(value, type_, name, allow_none=False):
     return value
 
 
-class IPAError(Exception):
+class IPAError(StandardError):
     """
     Base class for all custom IPA errors.
 
diff --git a/tests/test_ipalib/test_errors.py b/tests/test_ipalib/test_errors.py
index b72d6e028..f1dd5dc8e 100644
--- a/tests/test_ipalib/test_errors.py
+++ b/tests/test_ipalib/test_errors.py
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@ class test_IPAError(ClassChecker):
         """
         Test the `ipalib.errors.IPAError` exception.
         """
-        assert self.cls.__bases__ == (Exception,)
+        assert self.cls.__bases__ == (StandardError,)
 
     def test_init(self):
         """