diff --git a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
index 10de31e8..2401ebc6 100644
--- a/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
+++ b/gson/src/main/java/com/google/gson/Gson.java
@@ -366,7 +366,7 @@ public final class Gson {
     try {
       Streams.write(jsonElement, serializeNulls, writer);
     } catch (IOException e) {
-      throw new RuntimeException(e);
+      throw new JsonIOException(e);
     } finally {
       writer.setLenient(oldLenient);
       writer.setHtmlSafe(oldHtmlSafe);