diff --git a/rclpy/src/rclpy/_rclpy.c b/rclpy/src/rclpy/_rclpy.c
index 4496d2d8a..1d1d18498 100644
--- a/rclpy/src/rclpy/_rclpy.c
+++ b/rclpy/src/rclpy/_rclpy.c
@@ -3974,7 +3974,7 @@ rclpy_create_clock(PyObject * Py_UNUSED(self), PyObject * args)
 
   rcl_clock_t * clock = (rcl_clock_t *)PyMem_Malloc(sizeof(rcl_clock_t));
   if (!clock) {
-    PyErr_Format(PyErr_NoMemory, "Failed to allocate memory for clock.");
+    PyErr_Format(PyExc_MemoryError, "Failed to allocate memory for clock.");
     return NULL;
   }
   rcl_allocator_t allocator = rcl_get_default_allocator();