diff --git a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/__init__.py b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
index 260b3e5f41..672e55c24c 100644
--- a/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
+++ b/src/ifcopenshell-python/ifcopenshell/__init__.py
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@ def open(
         f = ifcopenshell_wrapper.parse_ifcxml(str(path.absolute()))
         if f:
             return file(f)
-        raise IOError(f"Failed to parse .ifcXML file from {path}")
+        raise OSError(f"Failed to parse .ifcXML file from {path}")
     if format == ".ifcZIP":
         with tempfile.TemporaryDirectory() as unzipped_path:
             with zipfile.ZipFile(path) as zf: