diff --git a/Lib/inspect.py b/Lib/inspect.py
index 07c4e28f0d9952..808aef419519ce 100644
--- a/Lib/inspect.py
+++ b/Lib/inspect.py
@@ -843,7 +843,9 @@ def getfile(object):
     if ismodule(object):
         if getattr(object, '__file__', None):
             return object.__file__
-        raise TypeError('{!r} is a built-in module'.format(object))
+        if getattr(object, '__spec__', None) is not None:
+            raise TypeError(f'{object!r} is a built-in module')
+        raise TypeError(f'cannot get source from {object!r}')
     if isclass(object):
         if hasattr(object, '__module__'):
             module = sys.modules.get(object.__module__)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_inspect/test_inspect.py b/Lib/test/test_inspect/test_inspect.py
index 075e1802bebc3e..71cccdaa2dbf13 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_inspect/test_inspect.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_inspect/test_inspect.py
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
 from os.path import normcase
 import _pickle
 import pickle
+import re
 import shutil
 import stat
 import sys
@@ -858,6 +859,12 @@ def test_getfile_builtin_module(self):
             inspect.getfile(sys)
         self.assertStartsWith(str(e.exception), '<module')
 
+    def test_getfile_custom_module(self):
+        my_mod = types.ModuleType('my_mod')
+        msg = re.escape(f'cannot get source from {my_mod!r}')
+        with self.assertRaisesRegex(TypeError, msg) as e:
+            inspect.getfile(my_mod)
+
     def test_getfile_builtin_class(self):
         with self.assertRaises(TypeError) as e:
             inspect.getfile(int)
@@ -6252,7 +6259,6 @@ def test_pwd_module_has_signatures(self):
         self._test_module_has_signatures(pwd)
 
     def test_re_module_has_signatures(self):
-        import re
         methods_no_signature = {'Match': {'group'}}
         self._test_module_has_signatures(re,
                 methods_no_signature=methods_no_signature,
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-09-05-23-18-51.gh-issue-138542.hQ9Q04.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-09-05-23-18-51.gh-issue-138542.hQ9Q04.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..4533d61dd1eae8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2025-09-05-23-18-51.gh-issue-138542.hQ9Q04.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fix :func:`inspect.getfile` error message for custom module objects.