diff --git a/src/error.rs b/src/error.rs
index 69e6d188..866f0ce1 100644
--- a/src/error.rs
+++ b/src/error.rs
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ pub enum DemesError {
     #[error("{0:?}")]
     EpochError(String),
     #[error("{0:?}")]
-    TopLevelError(String),
+    GraphError(String),
     #[error("generation time must be > 0.0, got: {0:?}")]
     GenerationTimeError(f64),
     #[error("{0:?}")]
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index b1a11a61..d58a2b0f 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 //! - https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pgen.1000695
 //! time_units: years
 //! generation_time: 25
-//! 
+//!
 //! demes:
 //! - name: ancestral
 //!   description: Equilibrium/root population
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 //!   ancestors: [OOA]
 //!   epochs:
 //!   - {start_size: 510, end_size: 54090}
-//! 
+//!
 //! migrations:
 //! - {demes: [YRI, OOA], rate: 25e-5}
 //! - {demes: [YRI, CEU], rate: 3e-5}
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
 //!     assert_eq!(graph, roundtripped_graph);
 //! }
 //!
-//! 
+//!
 //!for deme in graph.demes() {
 //!    println!("{} {} {} {} {}",
 //!         deme.name(),
diff --git a/src/specification.rs b/src/specification.rs
index cdeecd0f..0bfbb1a7 100644
--- a/src/specification.rs
+++ b/src/specification.rs
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ impl TryFrom<TimeTrampoline> for Time {
                 if &string == "Infinity" {
                     Ok(Self(f64::INFINITY))
                 } else {
-                    Err(DemesError::TopLevelError(string))
+                    Err(DemesError::GraphError(string))
                 }
             }
             // Fall back to valid YAML representations
@@ -2049,7 +2049,7 @@ impl Graph {
         }
 
         if !matches!(&self.time_units, TimeUnits::GENERATIONS) && self.generation_time.is_none() {
-            return Err(DemesError::TopLevelError(
+            return Err(DemesError::GraphError(
                 "missing generation_time".to_string(),
             ));
         }
@@ -2063,7 +2063,7 @@ impl Graph {
             match self.generation_time {
                 Some(value) => {
                     if !value.0.eq(&1.0) {
-                        return Err(DemesError::TopLevelError(
+                        return Err(DemesError::GraphError(
                             "time units are generations but generation_time != 1.0".to_string(),
                         ));
                     }
diff --git a/tests/test_bad_yaml_inputs.rs b/tests/test_bad_yaml_inputs.rs
index 77300ff6..85ec1816 100644
--- a/tests/test_bad_yaml_inputs.rs
+++ b/tests/test_bad_yaml_inputs.rs
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ demes:
 ";
     match demes::loads(yaml) {
         Ok(_) => panic!("expected Err!"),
-        Err(e) => assert!(matches!(e, demes::DemesError::TopLevelError(_))),
+        Err(e) => assert!(matches!(e, demes::DemesError::GraphError(_))),
     }
 }