diff --git a/CHANGES/26.bugfix.rst b/CHANGES/26.bugfix.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4f6c208
--- /dev/null
+++ b/CHANGES/26.bugfix.rst
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+Fixed loading the C-extensions on Python 3.8 -- by :user:`bdraco`.
diff --git a/src/propcache/_helpers_c.pyx b/src/propcache/_helpers_c.pyx
index 5369e12..3999a67 100644
--- a/src/propcache/_helpers_c.pyx
+++ b/src/propcache/_helpers_c.pyx
@@ -1,5 +1,13 @@
 # cython: language_level=3
-from types import GenericAlias
+import sys
+import types
+
+if sys.version_info >= (3, 9):
+    GenericAlias = types.GenericAlias
+else:
+
+    def GenericAlias(cls):
+        return cls
 
 
 cdef _sentinel = object()