diff --git a/botocore/waiter.py b/botocore/waiter.py
index 6f41f8a4fc..a0d2834bcb 100644
--- a/botocore/waiter.py
+++ b/botocore/waiter.py
@@ -303,11 +303,11 @@ def wait(self, **kwargs):
                 # transition to the failure state if an error
                 # response was received.
                 if 'Error' in response:
-                    # Transition to the failure state, which we can
-                    # just handle here by raising an exception.
-                    raise WaiterError(
-                        name=self.name,
-                        reason=response['Error'].get('Message', 'Unknown'))
+                    # This was a ClientError that was not handled in an
+                    # acceptor. Raise a ClientError again
+                    raise ClientError(
+                        error_response=response,
+                        operation_name=self.config.operation)
             if current_state == 'success':
                 logger.debug("Waiting complete, waiter matched the "
                              "success state.")
diff --git a/tests/unit/test_waiters.py b/tests/unit/test_waiters.py
index 3de747cdfa..adef191abc 100644
--- a/tests/unit/test_waiters.py
+++ b/tests/unit/test_waiters.py
@@ -358,7 +358,7 @@ def test_unspecified_errors_stops_waiter(self):
             for_operation=operation_method
         )
         waiter = Waiter('MyWaiter', config, operation_method)
-        with self.assertRaises(WaiterError):
+        with self.assertRaises(ClientError):
             waiter.wait()
 
     def test_unspecified_errors_propagate_error_code(self):
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ def test_unspecified_errors_propagate_error_code(self):
         )
         waiter = Waiter('MyWaiter', config, operation_method)
 
-        with self.assertRaisesRegexp(WaiterError, error_message):
+        with self.assertRaisesRegexp(ClientError, error_message):
             waiter.wait()
 
     def test_waiter_transitions_to_failure_state(self):