diff --git a/nomad/metainfo/metainfo.py b/nomad/metainfo/metainfo.py
index 4f085de50099424d98cd9ed05c66a2b780194a28..ac9ea680ec192127438aa364528f5bf0f30b25d9 100644
--- a/nomad/metainfo/metainfo.py
+++ b/nomad/metainfo/metainfo.py
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ T = TypeVar('T')
 # Metainfo errors
 
 class MetainfoError(Exception):
-    """ An error within the definition for metainfo data. """
+    """ Metainfo related errors. """
     pass
 
 
@@ -173,6 +173,10 @@ class DeriveError(MetainfoError):
     pass
 
 
+class MetainfoReferenceError(MetainfoError):
+    """ An error indicating that a reference could not be resolved. """
+
+
 # Metainfo quantity data types
 
 class Enum(list):