diff --git a/upath/core.py b/upath/core.py
index d4c08a46..cebf0156 100644
--- a/upath/core.py
+++ b/upath/core.py
@@ -121,8 +121,18 @@ class _IncompatibleProtocolError(TypeError, ValueError):
     """switch to TypeError for incompatible protocols in a backward compatible way.
 
     !!! Do not use this exception directly !!!
+    Catch TypeError instead, if you need to handle incompatible protocol errors.
+
+    We'll do the switch in a future major release.
     """
 
+    # evil: make this look like a built-in TypeError
+    __module__ = "builtins"
+    __qualname__ = "TypeError"
+
+    def __repr__(self) -> str:
+        return f"TypeError({', '.join(map(repr, self.args))})"
+
 
 class _UPathMeta(ABCMeta):
     """metaclass for UPath to customize instance creation