diff --git a/bson/_cbsonmodule.c b/bson/_cbsonmodule.c
index 850633288..cc5b4055c 100644
--- a/bson/_cbsonmodule.c
+++ b/bson/_cbsonmodule.c
@@ -2649,7 +2649,7 @@ static PyObject* _cbson_element_to_dict(PyObject* self, PyObject* args) {
         return NULL;
     }
 
-    result_tuple = Py_BuildValue("OOi", name, value, new_position);
+    result_tuple = Py_BuildValue("NNi", name, value, new_position);
     if (!result_tuple) {
         Py_DECREF(name);
         Py_DECREF(value);