diff --git a/kafka/errors.py b/kafka/errors.py
index 5dd8ec9f1..bea1c814f 100644
--- a/kafka/errors.py
+++ b/kafka/errors.py
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@
 import sys
 
 
-class KafkaError(RuntimeError):
+class KafkaError(Exception):
     retriable = False
     # whether metadata should be refreshed on error
     invalid_metadata = False