diff --git a/Lib/test/test_xml_etree_c.py b/Lib/test/test_xml_etree_c.py
index 2144d203e1e95c..a06e57a457ac57 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_xml_etree_c.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_xml_etree_c.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 from test.support import import_fresh_module
 import types
 import unittest
+import sys
 
 cET = import_fresh_module('xml.etree.ElementTree',
                           fresh=['_elementtree'])
diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2017-10-11-19-29-37.bpo-31758.kbeqNQ.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2017-10-11-19-29-37.bpo-31758.kbeqNQ.rst
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000000..156361ea467bd4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2017-10-11-19-29-37.bpo-31758.kbeqNQ.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Prevent reference leaks in ``_elementtree.Element.__setstate__()``. Patch by
+Oren Milman.
diff --git a/Modules/_elementtree.c b/Modules/_elementtree.c
index b88e8a1d6e9eb4..171cae093d972f 100644
--- a/Modules/_elementtree.c
+++ b/Modules/_elementtree.c
@@ -1051,6 +1051,10 @@ element_setstate_from_attributes(ElementObject *self,
             oldextra->attrib = Py_None;
         }
 
+        /* Decref each of the old children. */
+        for (i = 0; i < self->extra->length; i++) {
+            Py_CLEAR(self->extra->children[i]);
+        }
         /* Copy children */
         for (i = 0; i < nchildren; i++) {
             PyObject *child = PyList_GET_ITEM(children, i);
@@ -3660,11 +3664,11 @@ _elementtree_XMLParser___init___impl(XMLParserObject *self, PyObject *target,
                                      const char *encoding)
 /*[clinic end generated code: output=3ae45ec6cdf344e4 input=96288fcba916cfce]*/
 {
-    self->entity = PyDict_New();
+    Py_XSETREF(self->entity, PyDict_New());
     if (!self->entity)
         return -1;
 
-    self->names = PyDict_New();
+    Py_XSETREF(self->names, PyDict_New());
     if (!self->names) {
         Py_CLEAR(self->entity);
         return -1;
@@ -3693,41 +3697,43 @@ _elementtree_XMLParser___init___impl(XMLParserObject *self, PyObject *target,
             return -1;
         }
     }
-    self->target = target;
+    Py_XSETREF(self->target, target);
 
-    self->handle_start_ns = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "start_ns");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_start_ns, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "start_ns"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_start_ns)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_end_ns = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "end_ns");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_end_ns, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "end_ns"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_end_ns)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_start = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "start");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_start, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "start"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_start)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_data = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "data");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_data, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "data"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_data)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_end = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "end");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_end, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "end"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_end)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_comment = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "comment");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_comment,
+               PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "comment"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_comment)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_pi = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "pi");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_pi, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "pi"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_pi)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_close = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "close");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_close, PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "close"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_close)) {
         return -1;
     }
-    self->handle_doctype = PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "doctype");
+    Py_XSETREF(self->handle_doctype,
+               PyObject_GetAttrString(target, "doctype"));
     if (ignore_attribute_error(self->handle_doctype)) {
         return -1;
     }