diff --git a/xunitparser.py b/xunitparser.py
index d72fe2b..ba9efd3 100644
--- a/xunitparser.py
+++ b/xunitparser.py
@@ -1,7 +1,13 @@
 import math
 import unittest
 from datetime import timedelta
-from xml.etree import ElementTree
+
+try:
+    # Use the safe XML parser (defusedxml) when available
+    # See https://docs.python.org/3/library/xml.etree.elementtree.html
+    from defusedxml import ElementTree
+except ImportError:
+    from xml.etree import ElementTree
 
 
 def to_timedelta(val):