diff --git a/Modules/pyexpat.c b/Modules/pyexpat.c
index a8b0f8f..5aadcc0 100644
--- a/Modules/pyexpat.c
+++ b/Modules/pyexpat.c
@@ -351,6 +351,9 @@
     PyObject *args;
     PyObject *temp;
 
+    if (!have_handler(self, CharacterData))
+        return -1;
+
     args = PyTuple_New(1);
     if (args == NULL)
         return -1;