diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
index 88374cc..2fad8e2 100644
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -2734,6 +2734,8 @@
         char* event;
         if (PyUnicode_Check(item)) {
             event = _PyUnicode_AsString(item);
+            if (event == NULL)
+                goto error;
         } else if (PyBytes_Check(item))
             event = PyBytes_AS_STRING(item);
         else {