diff --git a/Lib/dbm/dumb.py b/Lib/dbm/dumb.py
index 1bc239a84fff83..c1c38da5101a57 100644
--- a/Lib/dbm/dumb.py
+++ b/Lib/dbm/dumb.py
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 - seems to contain a bug when updating...
 
 - reclaim free space (currently, space once occupied by deleted or expanded
-items is not reused exept if .reorganize() is called)
+items is not reused except if .reorganize() is called)
 
 - support concurrent access (currently, if two processes take turns making
 updates, they can mess up the index)