The self-shading measurement error of the upwelling irradiance caused by the presence of a typical cylindrical housing of an optical instrument was calculated with the 3-D Monte-Carlo code as a function of the housing dimensions and of the optical parameters of seawater. The resulting values were compared to the self-shading error for a flat disk of the same diameter, originally used to establish self-shading error estimations universally used in marine optics. The results show that the self-shading of upwelling irradiance is underestimated by up to 25% producing a significant underestimation of the measured upwelling irradiance, and therefore reflectance, especially in turbid waters.