diff --git a/parsl/dataflow/dflow.py b/parsl/dataflow/dflow.py
index e51d6dd39a..c42d536c70 100644
--- a/parsl/dataflow/dflow.py
+++ b/parsl/dataflow/dflow.py
@@ -1438,5 +1438,5 @@ def wait_for_current_tasks(cls) -> None:
     def dfk(cls) -> DataFlowKernel:
         """Return the currently-loaded DataFlowKernel."""
         if cls._dfk is None:
-            raise ConfigurationError('Must first load config')
+            raise NoDataFlowKernelError('Must first load config')
         return cls._dfk