--- orig_cElementTree-1.0.5-20051216/cElementTree.c	2005-12-16 13:57:47.000000000 -0800
+++ cElementTree-1.0.5-20051216/cElementTree.c	2009-11-07 23:36:27.000000000 -0800
@@ -2572,6 +2572,7 @@
 {
     PyObject* m;
     PyObject* g;
+    PyObject* tmp;
     char* bootstrap;
 #if defined(USE_PYEXPAT_CAPI)
     struct PyExpat_CAPI* capi;
@@ -2731,7 +2732,11 @@
 
        );
 
-    PyRun_String(bootstrap, Py_file_input, g, NULL);
+    if(!(tmp = PyRun_String(bootstrap, Py_file_input, g, NULL))) {
+        // something blew up... let the exception propagate.
+        return;
+    }
+    Py_DECREF(tmp);
 
     elementpath_obj = PyDict_GetItemString(g, "ElementPath");