diff --git a/Lib/asyncio/proactor_events.py b/Lib/asyncio/proactor_events.py
index f45cd9c680d..d99e8ce7271 100644
--- a/Lib/asyncio/proactor_events.py
+++ b/Lib/asyncio/proactor_events.py
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ def _pipe_closed(self, fut):
         assert fut is self._read_fut, (fut, self._read_fut)
         self._read_fut = None
         if self._write_fut is not None:
-            self._force_close(exc)
+            self._force_close(BrokenPipeError())
         else:
             self.close()