diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/parsing.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/parsing.py
index 2dcf1fb1dc..a216eb2d29 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/parsing.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/oeb/polish/parsing.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ class Element(ElementBase):
         prefix = {v:k for k, v in self.nsmap.iteritems()}[ns] or ''
         if prefix:
             prefix += ':'
-        return '<%s%s%s (%s)>' % (prefix, self.name, attrs, hex(id(self)))
+        return '<%s%s%s (%s)>' % (prefix, getattr(self, 'name', self.tag), attrs, hex(id(self)))
     __repr__ = __str__
 
     @property