diff --git a/dpctl/_sycl_device.pyx b/dpctl/_sycl_device.pyx
index b1a6245465..0f608f7f38 100644
--- a/dpctl/_sycl_device.pyx
+++ b/dpctl/_sycl_device.pyx
@@ -1660,14 +1660,13 @@ cdef class SyclDevice(_SyclDevice):
 
         Raises:
             ValueError:
-                If the ``partition`` keyword argument is not specified or
-                the affinity domain string is not legal or is not one of the
-                three supported options.
+                If the ``partition`` keyword argument is not one of the three
+                supported options or is not a legal affinity domain string.
             dpctl.SyclSubdeviceCreationError:
                 If sub-devices can not be created.
         """
         if "partition" not in kwargs:
-            raise ValueError(
+            raise TypeError(
                 "create_sub_devices(partition=parition_spec) is expected."
             )
         partition = kwargs.pop("partition")