diff --git a/mccabe.py b/mccabe.py
index cc10d7c..0f5c636 100644
--- a/mccabe.py
+++ b/mccabe.py
@@ -199,10 +199,23 @@ def _subgraph_parse(self, node, pathnode, extra_blocks):
             self.tail = pathnode
             self.dispatch_list(extra.body)
             loose_ends.append(self.tail)
-        if node.orelse:
-            self.tail = pathnode
-            self.dispatch_list(node.orelse)
-            loose_ends.append(self.tail)
+        # Handle elif chains iteratively to avoid RecursionError
+        while node.orelse:
+            if (len(node.orelse) == 1
+                    and isinstance(node.orelse[0], ast.If)):
+                # elif branch: process inline instead of recursing
+                node = node.orelse[0]
+                name = "If %d" % node.lineno
+                elif_node = self.appendPathNode(name)
+                self.tail = elif_node
+                self.dispatch_list(node.body)
+                loose_ends.append(self.tail)
+            else:
+                # else branch
+                self.tail = pathnode
+                self.dispatch_list(node.orelse)
+                loose_ends.append(self.tail)
+                break
         else:
             loose_ends.append(pathnode)
         if pathnode:
diff --git a/test_mccabe.py b/test_mccabe.py
index fe6e8d3..f32ad82 100644
--- a/test_mccabe.py
+++ b/test_mccabe.py
@@ -238,6 +238,18 @@ class _options(object):
     def test_get_module_complexity(self):
         self.assertEqual(0, mccabe.get_module_complexity("mccabe.py"))
 
+    def test_long_elif_chain(self):
+        """Ensure bug #71 does not regress (RecursionError on long elif)."""
+        lines = ['def func(x):']
+        lines.append('    if x == 0:')
+        lines.append('        return 0')
+        for i in range(1, 200):
+            lines.append('    elif x == %d:' % i)
+            lines.append('        return %d' % i)
+        code = '\n'.join(lines) + '\n'
+        complexity = get_code_complexity(code, threshold=0)
+        self.assertEqual(complexity, 1)
+
 
 # This test uses the Hypothesis and Hypothesmith libraries to generate random
 # syntatically-valid Python source code and applies McCabe on it.