diff --git a/Lib/optparse.py b/Lib/optparse.py
index 02f62e40950..16a0f198453 100644
--- a/Lib/optparse.py
+++ b/Lib/optparse.py
@@ -799,7 +799,7 @@ class Option:
             parser.print_version()
             parser.exit()
         else:
-            raise RuntimeError, "unknown action %r" % self.action
+            raise ValueError("unknown action %r" % self.action)
 
         return 1