diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/Streams.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/Streams.java
index f49329d2..ad0b4bf2 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/Streams.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/internal/Streams.java
@@ -50,10 +50,8 @@ public final class Streams {
       if (isEmpty) {
         return JsonNull.INSTANCE;
       }
-      // We could possibly throw JsonSyntaxException since the stream prematurely ended.
-      // However, it seems safe to throw JsonIOException since the source is an IOException.
-      // Another reason is to maintain backward compatibility.
-      throw new JsonIOException(e);
+      // The stream ended prematurely so it is likely a syntax error.
+      throw new JsonSyntaxException(e);
     } catch (MalformedJsonException e) {
       throw new JsonSyntaxException(e);
     } catch (IOException e) {
diff --git a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
index f3012ca3..181d4ab7 100644
--- a/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
+++ b/gson/src/test/java/com/google/gson/JsonParserTest.java
@@ -16,14 +16,16 @@
 
 package com.google.gson;
 
-import com.google.gson.common.TestTypes.BagOfPrimitives;
-import com.google.gson.internal.Streams;
-import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
 import java.io.CharArrayReader;
 import java.io.CharArrayWriter;
 import java.io.StringReader;
+
 import junit.framework.TestCase;
 
+import com.google.gson.common.TestTypes.BagOfPrimitives;
+import com.google.gson.internal.Streams;
+import com.google.gson.stream.JsonReader;
+
 /**
  * Unit test for {@link JsonParser}
  *
@@ -42,7 +44,7 @@ public class JsonParserTest extends TestCase {
     try {
       parser.parse("[[]");
       fail();
-    } catch (JsonParseException expected) { }
+    } catch (JsonSyntaxException expected) { }
   }
 
   public void testParseUnquotedStringArrayFails() {