diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py b/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py
--- a/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py
@@ -1910,6 +1910,18 @@
         e = parser.close()
         self._check_sample1_element(e)
 
+    def test_subclass_init_override(self):
+        class MyTreeBuilder(ET.TreeBuilder):
+            def __init__(self, element_factory=None):
+                super().__init__(element_factory)
+
+        tb = MyTreeBuilder()
+        parser = ET.XMLParser(target=tb)
+        parser.feed(self.sample1)
+
+        e = parser.close()
+        self._check_sample1_element(e)
+
     def test_element_factory(self):
         lst = []
         def myfactory(tag, attrib):
diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -2341,7 +2341,7 @@
         self->data = NULL;
     }
 
-    if (self->element_factory) {
+    if (self->element_factory && self->element_factory != Py_None) {
         node = PyObject_CallFunction(self->element_factory, "OO", tag, attrib);
     } else {
         node = create_new_element(tag, attrib);