diff --git a/Lib/random.py b/Lib/random.py
index 36e16a9063b5346..53252764a5b5dba 100644
--- a/Lib/random.py
+++ b/Lib/random.py
@@ -485,7 +485,15 @@ def choices(self, population, weights=None, *, cum_weights=None, k=1):
                 floor = _floor
                 n += 0.0    # convert to float for a small speed improvement
                 return [population[floor(random() * n)] for i in _repeat(None, k)]
-            cum_weights = list(_accumulate(weights))
+            try:
+                cum_weights = list(_accumulate(weights))
+            except TypeError:
+                if not isinstance(weights, int):
+                    raise
+                k = weights
+                raise TypeError(
+                    f'The number of choices must be a keyword argument: {k=}'
+                ) from None
         elif weights is not None:
             raise TypeError('Cannot specify both weights and cumulative weights')
         if len(cum_weights) != n: