diff --git a/pip/exceptions.py b/pip/exceptions.py
index 22f554a76ea..e9a044eeaff 100644
--- a/pip/exceptions.py
+++ b/pip/exceptions.py
@@ -1,11 +1,15 @@
 """Exceptions used throughout package"""
 
 
-class InstallationError(Exception):
+class PipError(Exception):
+    """Base pip exception"""
+
+
+class InstallationError(PipError):
     """General exception during installation"""
 
 
-class UninstallationError(Exception):
+class UninstallationError(PipError):
     """General exception during uninstallation"""
 
 
@@ -13,15 +17,14 @@ class DistributionNotFound(InstallationError):
     """Raised when a distribution cannot be found to satisfy a requirement"""
 
 
-class BestVersionAlreadyInstalled(Exception):
+class BestVersionAlreadyInstalled(PipError):
     """Raised when the most up-to-date version of a package is already
-    installed.
-    """
+    installed.  """
 
 
-class BadCommand(Exception):
+class BadCommand(PipError):
     """Raised when virtualenv or a command is not found"""
 
 
-class CommandError(Exception):
+class CommandError(PipError):
     """Raised when there is an error in command-line arguments"""