diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/__init__.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/__init__.py
index aa0c6de311..3195e72a62 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/__init__.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/__init__.py
@@ -80,11 +80,9 @@ if "BBDEBUG" in os.environ:
     if level:
         bb.msg.set_debug_level(level)
 
-class VarExpandError(Exception):
-    pass
-
-class MalformedUrl(Exception):
-    """Exception raised when encountering an invalid url"""
+# For compatibility
+from bb.fetch import MalformedUrl
+from bb.data import VarExpandError
 
 
 #######################################################################
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/data.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/data.py
index d3058b9a1d..c3bb1a1f43 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/data.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/data.py
@@ -47,6 +47,9 @@ sys.path.insert(0,path)
 from bb import data_smart
 import bb
 
+class VarExpandError(Exception):
+    pass
+
 _dict_type = data_smart.DataSmart
 
 def init():
diff --git a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
index cedf839860..875cda8929 100644
--- a/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
+++ b/bitbake/lib/bb/fetch/__init__.py
@@ -29,6 +29,9 @@ import bb
 from   bb import data
 from   bb import persist_data
 
+class MalformedUrl(Exception):
+    """Exception raised when encountering an invalid url"""
+
 class FetchError(Exception):
     """Exception raised when a download fails"""