diff --git a/babel/dates.py b/babel/dates.py
index 69610a7f0..6c1fb1f16 100644
--- a/babel/dates.py
+++ b/babel/dates.py
@@ -870,7 +870,7 @@ def format_skeleton(
     >>> format_skeleton('GH', t, fuzzy=True, locale='fi_FI')  # GH is not in the Finnish locale and there is no close match, an error is thrown
     Traceback (most recent call last):
         ...
-    KeyError: None
+    KeyError: 'GH'
 
     After the skeleton is resolved to a pattern `format_datetime` is called so
     all timezone processing etc is the same as for that.
@@ -881,12 +881,12 @@ def format_skeleton(
     :param tzinfo: the time-zone to apply to the time for display
     :param fuzzy: If the skeleton is not found, allow choosing a skeleton that's
                   close enough to it. If there is no close match, a `KeyError`
-                  is thrown.
+                  with the requested skeleton is thrown.
     :param locale: a `Locale` object or a locale identifier. Defaults to the system time locale.
     """
     locale = Locale.parse(locale or LC_TIME)
     if fuzzy and skeleton not in locale.datetime_skeletons:
-        skeleton = match_skeleton(skeleton, locale.datetime_skeletons)
+        skeleton = match_skeleton(skeleton, locale.datetime_skeletons) or skeleton
     format = locale.datetime_skeletons[skeleton]
     return format_datetime(datetime, format, tzinfo, locale)
 
diff --git a/tests/test_dates.py b/tests/test_dates.py
index 12bb23433..4bf6d3cbf 100644
--- a/tests/test_dates.py
+++ b/tests/test_dates.py
@@ -618,6 +618,10 @@ def test_format_skeleton(timezone_getter):
     assert (dates.format_skeleton('EHm', dt, locale='en') == 'Sun 15:30')
     assert (dates.format_skeleton('EHm', dt, tzinfo=timezone_getter('Asia/Bangkok'), locale='th') == 'อา. 22:30 น.')
 
+    # fuzzy=True with no close match should raise KeyError with the original skeleton, not None
+    with pytest.raises(KeyError, match='G'):
+        dates.format_skeleton('G', datetime(2012, 1, 1, 14, 30, 59), locale='cs_CZ', fuzzy=True)
+
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize(('skeleton', 'expected'), [
     ('Hmz', 'Hmv'),