diff --git a/ess/__init__.py b/ess/__init__.py
index 2023c6735fdf2b70349140a1ed6764b08e73e294..dc61eadf9edcd5e87e29222617e2a23a3aa2649a 100644
--- a/ess/__init__.py
+++ b/ess/__init__.py
@@ -24,6 +24,6 @@ __name__ = "ess-python-tools"
 
 try:
     __version__ = metadata.version(__name__)
-except metadata.PackageNotFoundError:
+except ModuleNotFoundError:
     # package is not installed
     pass