diff --git a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/item/models.py b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/item/models.py
index 69b4cf1f6..ed374f919 100644
--- a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/item/models.py
+++ b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/item/models.py
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ class ScrapedItem(object):
             for attr, value in data.iteritems():
                 setattr(self, attr, value)
         elif data is not None:
-            raise UsageError("Initialize with dict, not %s" % data.__class__.__name__)
+            raise TypeError("Initialize with dict, not %s" % data.__class__.__name__)
 
     def __repr__(self):
         """
diff --git a/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/tests/test_item.py b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/tests/test_item.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..902bda2cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scrapy/trunk/scrapy/tests/test_item.py
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+import unittest
+
+from scrapy.item import ScrapedItem
+
+class ItemTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def test_item(self):
+        
+        class MyItem(ScrapedItem):
+            pass
+
+        item = MyItem()
+        self.assertEqual(repr(item), 'MyItem({})')
+
+        item = ScrapedItem({'key': 'value'})
+        self.assertEqual(item.key, 'value')
+
+        self.assertRaises(TypeError, ScrapedItem, 10)
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    unittest.main()