diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
index a7201a5..6f17d80 100644
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -3511,11 +3511,13 @@
             expat_capi->MAJOR_VERSION != XML_MAJOR_VERSION ||
             expat_capi->MINOR_VERSION != XML_MINOR_VERSION ||
             expat_capi->MICRO_VERSION != XML_MICRO_VERSION) {
-            expat_capi = NULL;
+            PyErr_SetString(PyExc_ImportError,
+                            "pyexpat version is incompatible");
+            return NULL;
         }
-    }
-    if (!expat_capi)
+    } else {
         return NULL;
+    }
 
     elementtree_parseerror_obj = PyErr_NewException(
         "xml.etree.ElementTree.ParseError", PyExc_SyntaxError, NULL