Index: Modules/pyexpat.c
===================================================================
--- Modules/pyexpat.c	(revision 81539)
+++ Modules/pyexpat.c	(working copy)
@@ -415,6 +415,9 @@
     PyObject *args;
     PyObject *temp;
 
+    if (!have_handler(self, CharacterData))
+        return -1;
+
     args = PyTuple_New(1);
     if (args == NULL)
         return -1;