diff --git a/src/clojure/monger/core.clj b/src/clojure/monger/core.clj
index 5573bc6..fe24ec1 100644
--- a/src/clojure/monger/core.clj
+++ b/src/clojure/monger/core.clj
@@ -236,8 +236,8 @@
   (let [uri    (MongoClientURI. uri-string)
         conn   (MongoClient. uri)
         dbName (.getDatabase uri)]
-    (if (nil? dbName)
-      (throw (Exception. "No database name specified in uri"))
+    (if (not dbName)
+      (throw (IllegalArgumentException. "No database name specified in uri"))
       (let [db (.getDB conn dbName)]
         {:conn conn :db db}))))
 
diff --git a/test/monger/test/core_test.clj b/test/monger/test/core_test.clj
index c8082ce..02f45dc 100644
--- a/test/monger/test/core_test.clj
+++ b/test/monger/test/core_test.clj
@@ -73,4 +73,4 @@
 
 (deftest connect-to-uri-without-db-name
   (let [uri "mongodb://localhost:27017"]
-    (is (thrown? Exception (mg/connect-via-uri uri)))))
+    (is (thrown? IllegalArgumentException (mg/connect-via-uri uri)))))