diff --git a/src/calibre/devices/mtp/windows/wpd.cpp b/src/calibre/devices/mtp/windows/wpd.cpp
index d7d1a11eaa..e2397a5797 100644
--- a/src/calibre/devices/mtp/windows/wpd.cpp
+++ b/src/calibre/devices/mtp/windows/wpd.cpp
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 
 static int _com_initialized = 0;
 static PyObject *WPDError = NULL;
+static PyObject *NoWPD = NULL;
 static IPortableDeviceManager *portable_device_manager = NULL;
 
 static PyObject *
@@ -33,7 +34,7 @@ wpd_init(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
 
         if (FAILED(hr)) {
             portable_device_manager = NULL;
-            PyErr_SetString(WPDError, (hr == REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG) ? 
+            PyErr_SetString((hr == REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG) ? NoWPD : WPDError, (hr == REGDB_E_CLASSNOTREG) ? 
                 "This computer is not running the Windows Portable Device framework. You may need to install Windows Media Player 11 or newer." : 
                 "Failed to create the WPD device manager interface");
             return NULL;
@@ -81,6 +82,8 @@ initwpd(void) {
     WPDError = PyErr_NewException("wpd.WPDError", NULL, NULL);
     if (WPDError == NULL) return;
 
+    NoWPD = PyErr_NewException("wpd.NoWPD", NULL, NULL);
+    if (NoWPD == NULL) return;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/calibre/test_build.py b/src/calibre/test_build.py
index a21458cc02..35e050cf19 100644
--- a/src/calibre/test_build.py
+++ b/src/calibre/test_build.py
@@ -100,6 +100,15 @@ def test_icu():
         raise RuntimeError('ICU module not loaded/valid')
     print ('ICU OK!')
 
+def test_wpd():
+    wpd = plugins['wpd'][0]
+    try:
+        wpd.init()
+    except wpd.NoWPD:
+        print ('This computer does not have WPD')
+    else:
+        wpd.uninit()
+
 def test():
     test_plugins()
     test_lxml()
@@ -112,6 +121,7 @@ def test():
     if iswindows:
         test_win32()
         test_winutil()
+        test_wpd()
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     test()