diff --git a/eth_abi/codec.py b/eth_abi/codec.py
index ca606920..de04c0d5 100644
--- a/eth_abi/codec.py
+++ b/eth_abi/codec.py
@@ -30,6 +30,9 @@
 
 class BaseABICodecEncoder():
     def __init__(self, registry):
+        if registry is None:
+            raise ValueError("`registry` may not be None")
+        
         self._registry = registry
 
     def encode_single(self, typ: TypeStr, arg: Any) -> bytes:
diff --git a/tests/test_codec/test_base_abi_codec_encoder.py b/tests/test_codec/test_base_abi_codec_encoder.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..98aaf9d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/test_codec/test_base_abi_codec_encoder.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+from eth_abi.codec import (
+    BaseABICodecEncoder,
+)
+