diff --git a/old-libexpat.patch b/old-libexpat.patch
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c5f0340
--- /dev/null
+++ b/old-libexpat.patch
@@ -0,0 +1,79 @@
+---
+ Lib/test/test_sax.py       |   10 +++++-----
+ Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py |   17 ++++++++---------
+ 2 files changed, 13 insertions(+), 14 deletions(-)
+
+--- a/Lib/test/test_sax.py
++++ b/Lib/test/test_sax.py
+@@ -1207,10 +1207,9 @@ class ExpatReaderTest(XmlTestBase):
+ 
+         self.assertEqual(result.getvalue(), start + b"<doc>text</doc>")
+ 
++    @unittest.skipIf(pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0),
++                     "Reparse deferral not defined for libexpat < 2.6.0")
+     def test_flush_reparse_deferral_enabled(self):
+-        if pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0):
+-            self.skipTest(f'Expat {pyexpat.version_info} does not support reparse deferral')
+-
+         result = BytesIO()
+         xmlgen = XMLGenerator(result)
+         parser = create_parser()
+@@ -1232,6 +1231,8 @@ class ExpatReaderTest(XmlTestBase):
+ 
+         self.assertEqual(result.getvalue(), start + b"<doc></doc>")
+ 
++    @unittest.skipIf(pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0),
++                     "Reparse deferral not defined for libexpat < 2.6.0")
+     def test_flush_reparse_deferral_disabled(self):
+         result = BytesIO()
+         xmlgen = XMLGenerator(result)
+@@ -1241,8 +1242,7 @@ class ExpatReaderTest(XmlTestBase):
+         for chunk in ("<doc", ">"):
+             parser.feed(chunk)
+ 
+-        if pyexpat.version_info >= (2, 6, 0):
+-            parser._parser.SetReparseDeferralEnabled(False)
++        parser._parser.SetReparseDeferralEnabled(False)
+ 
+         self.assertEqual(result.getvalue(), start)  # i.e. no elements started
+         self.assertFalse(parser._parser.GetReparseDeferralEnabled())
+--- a/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py
++++ b/Lib/test/test_xml_etree.py
+@@ -1494,11 +1494,9 @@ class XMLPullParserTest(unittest.TestCas
+         with self.assertRaises(ValueError):
+             ET.XMLPullParser(events=('start', 'end', 'bogus'))
+ 
++    @unittest.skipIf(pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0),
++                     "Reparse deferral not defined for libexpat < 2.6.0")
+     def test_flush_reparse_deferral_enabled(self):
+-        if pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0):
+-            self.skipTest(f'Expat {pyexpat.version_info} does not '
+-                          'support reparse deferral')
+-
+         parser = ET.XMLPullParser(events=('start', 'end'))
+ 
+         for chunk in ("<doc", ">"):
+@@ -1519,17 +1517,18 @@ class XMLPullParserTest(unittest.TestCas
+ 
+         self.assert_event_tags(parser, [('end', 'doc')])
+ 
++    @unittest.skipIf(pyexpat.version_info < (2, 6, 0),
++                     "Reparse deferral not defined for libexpat < 2.6.0")
+     def test_flush_reparse_deferral_disabled(self):
+         parser = ET.XMLPullParser(events=('start', 'end'))
+ 
+         for chunk in ("<doc", ">"):
+             parser.feed(chunk)
+ 
+-        if pyexpat.version_info >= (2, 6, 0):
+-            if not ET is pyET:
+-                self.skipTest(f'XMLParser.(Get|Set)ReparseDeferralEnabled '
+-                              'methods not available in C')
+-            parser._parser._parser.SetReparseDeferralEnabled(False)
++        if not ET is pyET:
++            self.skipTest(f'XMLParser.(Get|Set)ReparseDeferralEnabled '
++                          'methods not available in C')
++        parser._parser._parser.SetReparseDeferralEnabled(False)
+ 
+         self.assert_event_tags(parser, [])  # i.e. no elements started
+         if ET is pyET:
diff --git a/python38.changes b/python38.changes
index 44e238b..002313d 100644
--- a/python38.changes
+++ b/python38.changes
@@ -1,3 +1,9 @@
+-------------------------------------------------------------------
+Sun Mar 24 00:43:14 UTC 2024 - Matej Cepl <mcepl@cepl.eu>
+
+- Add old-libexpat.patch making the test suite work with
+  libexpat < 2.6.0 (gh#python/cpython#117187).
+
 -------------------------------------------------------------------
 Thu Mar 21 20:29:12 UTC 2024 - Matej Cepl <mcepl@cepl.eu>
 
diff --git a/python38.spec b/python38.spec
index 061a1d0..9b98207 100644
--- a/python38.spec
+++ b/python38.spec
@@ -183,6 +183,9 @@ Patch41:        99366-patch.dict-can-decorate-async.patch
 # Detect email address parsing errors and return empty tuple to
 # indicate the parsing error (old API), from gh#python/cpython!105127
 Patch42:        CVE-2023-27043-email-parsing-errors.patch
+# PATCH-FIX-UPSTREAM old-libexpat.patch gh#python/cpython#117187 mcepl@suse.com
+# Make the test suite work with libexpat < 2.6.0
+Patch43:        old-libexpat.patch
 BuildRequires:  autoconf-archive
 BuildRequires:  automake
 BuildRequires:  fdupes
@@ -455,6 +458,7 @@ other applications.
 %patch -P 38 -p1
 %patch -P 41 -p1
 %patch -P 42 -p1
+%patch -P 43 -p1
 
 # drop Autoconf version requirement
 sed -i 's/^AC_PREREQ/dnl AC_PREREQ/' configure.ac