diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
index ac54d4378d..6743bce585 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/cooker.py
@@ -13,7 +13,6 @@ import sys, os, glob, os.path, re, time
 import itertools
 import logging
 import multiprocessing
-import sre_constants
 import threading
 from io import StringIO, UnsupportedOperation
 from contextlib import closing
@@ -1795,7 +1794,7 @@ class CookerCollectFiles(object):
                 try:
                     re.compile(mask)
                     bbmasks.append(mask)
-                except sre_constants.error:
+                except re.error:
                     collectlog.critical("BBMASK contains an invalid regular expression, ignoring: %s" % mask)
 
             # Then validate the combined regular expressions. This should never
@@ -1803,7 +1802,7 @@ class CookerCollectFiles(object):
             bbmask = "|".join(bbmasks)
             try:
                 bbmask_compiled = re.compile(bbmask)
-            except sre_constants.error:
+            except re.error:
                 collectlog.critical("BBMASK is not a valid regular expression, ignoring: %s" % bbmask)
                 bbmask = None