+1 I agree the current AttributeError is not suitable. I would just copy the code from Lib/tkinter/__init__.py:2524 (or even better: refactor it into its own method to avoid duplication). The code there, though, would raise a similar AttributeError if the default root is disabled, so I suggest that needs a changing to possibly a TypeError (i.e. missing 'master' argument). I assume you are alright to create a PR for this? Please revert the "resolution" field as this is intended to be the reason for issue closure.