diff --git a/Lib/xml/dom/minicompat.py b/Lib/xml/dom/minicompat.py
index 1244500..5d6fae9 100644
--- a/Lib/xml/dom/minicompat.py
+++ b/Lib/xml/dom/minicompat.py
@@ -64,10 +64,10 @@
     length = property(_get_length, _set_length,
                       doc="The number of nodes in the NodeList.")
 
-    def __getstate__(self):
-        return list(self)
-
+    # For backward compatibility
     def __setstate__(self, state):
+        if state is None:
+            state = []
         self[:] = state