diff --git a/Lib/pickle.py b/Lib/pickle.py
index baf9f1d019c3b6..0c6b1774e02c25 100644
--- a/Lib/pickle.py
+++ b/Lib/pickle.py
@@ -1153,7 +1153,7 @@ def _save_toplevel_by_name(self, module_name, name):
             except UnicodeEncodeError:
                 raise PicklingError(
                     "can't pickle global identifier '%s.%s' using "
-                    "pickle protocol %i" % (module, name, self.proto)) from None
+                    "pickle protocol %i" % (module_name, name, self.proto)) from None
 
     def save_type(self, obj):
         if obj is type(None):