diff -r 5973743a52a1 Doc/reference/expressions.rst
--- a/Doc/reference/expressions.rst	Sun Mar 06 18:10:58 2011 -0600
+++ b/Doc/reference/expressions.rst	Mon Mar 07 08:16:01 2011 +0100
@@ -668,11 +668,11 @@
 there were no excess keyword arguments.
 
 If the syntax ``*expression`` appears in the function call, ``expression`` must
-evaluate to a sequence.  Elements from this sequence are treated as if they were
-additional positional arguments; if there are positional arguments *x1*,...,
-*xN*, and ``expression`` evaluates to a sequence *y1*, ..., *yM*, this is
-equivalent to a call with M+N positional arguments *x1*, ..., *xN*, *y1*, ...,
-*yM*.
+evaluate to an iterable.  Elements from this iterable are treated as if they
+were additional positional arguments; if there are positional arguments
+*x1*,..., *xN*, and ``expression`` evaluates to a sequence *y1*, ..., *yM*,
+this is equivalent to a call with M+N positional arguments *x1*, ..., *xN*,
+*y1*, ..., *yM*.
 
 A consequence of this is that although the ``*expression`` syntax may appear
 *after* some keyword arguments, it is processed *before* the keyword arguments
diff -r 5973743a52a1 Lib/test/test_extcall.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_extcall.py	Sun Mar 06 18:10:58 2011 -0600
+++ b/Lib/test/test_extcall.py	Mon Mar 07 08:16:01 2011 +0100
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@
     >>> g(*Nothing())
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
-    TypeError: g() argument after * must be a sequence, not Nothing
+    TypeError: g() argument after * must be an iterable, not Nothing
 
     >>> class Nothing:
     ...     def __len__(self): return 5
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
     >>> g(*Nothing())
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
-    TypeError: g() argument after * must be a sequence, not Nothing
+    TypeError: g() argument after * must be an iterable, not Nothing
 
     >>> class Nothing():
     ...     def __len__(self): return 5
@@ -127,6 +127,45 @@
     >>> g(*Nothing())
     0 (1, 2, 3) {}
 
+Check for issue #4806: Does a TypeError in a generator get propagated with the
+right error message? (Also check with other iterables.)
+
+    >>> def broken(): raise TypeError("myerror")
+    ...
+
+    >>> g(*(broken() for i in range(1)))
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    TypeError: myerror
+
+    >>> class BrokenIterable1:
+    ...     def __iter__(self):
+    ...         raise TypeError('myerror')
+    ...
+    >>> g(*BrokenIterable1())
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    TypeError: myerror
+
+    >>> class BrokenIterable2:
+    ...     def __iter__(self):
+    ...         yield 0
+    ...         raise TypeError('myerror')
+    ...
+    >>> g(*BrokenIterable2())
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    TypeError: myerror
+
+    >>> class BrokenSequence:
+    ...     def __getitem__(self, idx):
+    ...         raise TypeError('myerror')
+    ...
+    >>> f(*BrokenSequence())
+    Traceback (most recent call last):
+      ...
+    TypeError: myerror
+
 Make sure that the function doesn't stomp the dictionary
 
     >>> d = {'a': 1, 'b': 2, 'c': 3}
@@ -166,17 +205,17 @@
     >>> h(*h)
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
-    TypeError: h() argument after * must be a sequence, not function
+    TypeError: h() argument after * must be an iterable, not function
 
     >>> dir(*h)
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
-    TypeError: dir() argument after * must be a sequence, not function
+    TypeError: dir() argument after * must be an iterable, not function
 
     >>> None(*h)
     Traceback (most recent call last):
       ...
-    TypeError: NoneType object argument after * must be a sequence, \
+    TypeError: NoneType object argument after * must be an iterable, \
 not function
 
     >>> h(**h)
diff -r 5973743a52a1 Python/ceval.c
--- a/Python/ceval.c	Sun Mar 06 18:10:58 2011 -0600
+++ b/Python/ceval.c	Mon Mar 07 08:16:01 2011 +0100
@@ -4127,10 +4127,12 @@
             PyObject *t = NULL;
             t = PySequence_Tuple(stararg);
             if (t == NULL) {
-                if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_TypeError)) {
+                if (PyErr_ExceptionMatches(PyExc_TypeError) &&
+                    (Py_TYPE(stararg)->tp_iter == NULL) &&
+                    !PySequence_Check(stararg)) {
                     PyErr_Format(PyExc_TypeError,
                                  "%.200s%.200s argument after * "
-                                 "must be a sequence, not %200s",
+                                 "must be an iterable, not %200s",
                                  PyEval_GetFuncName(func),
                                  PyEval_GetFuncDesc(func),
                                  stararg->ob_type->tp_name);