diff --git a/kafka/metrics/stats/percentiles.py b/kafka/metrics/stats/percentiles.py
index c36543ffa..2cb2d84de 100644
--- a/kafka/metrics/stats/percentiles.py
+++ b/kafka/metrics/stats/percentiles.py
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ def __init__(self, size_in_bytes, bucketing, max_val, min_val=0.0,
                                  ' to be 0.0.')
             self.bin_scheme = Histogram.LinearBinScheme(self._buckets, max_val)
         else:
-            ValueError('Unknown bucket type: %s' % (bucketing,))
+            raise ValueError('Unknown bucket type: %s' % (bucketing,))
 
     def stats(self):
         measurables = []