diff --git a/src/xsdata_pydantic_basemodel/compat.py b/src/xsdata_pydantic_basemodel/compat.py
index b087ea17..bc823625 100644
--- a/src/xsdata_pydantic_basemodel/compat.py
+++ b/src/xsdata_pydantic_basemodel/compat.py
@@ -1,3 +1,8 @@
+try:
+    from lxml import etree as ET
+except ImportError:
+    import xml.etree.ElementTree as ET  # type: ignore
+
 from dataclasses import MISSING, field
 from typing import (
     Any,
@@ -11,7 +16,6 @@
     TypeVar,
     cast,
 )
-from xml.etree.ElementTree import QName
 
 from pydantic import BaseModel, validators
 from pydantic.fields import Field, ModelField, Undefined
@@ -45,6 +49,14 @@ class AnyElement(BaseModel):
     class Config:
         arbitrary_types_allowed = True
 
+    def to_etree_element(self) -> "ET._Element":
+        elem = ET.Element(self.qname or "", self.attributes)
+        elem.text = self.text
+        elem.tail = self.tail
+        for child in self.children:
+            elem.append(child.to_etree_element())
+        return elem
+
 
 class DerivedElement(BaseModel, Generic[T]):
     """Generic model wrapper for type substituted elements.
@@ -136,7 +148,7 @@ def validator(value: Any) -> Any:
             (XmlTime, make_validators(XmlTime, XmlTime.from_string)),
             (XmlDuration, make_validators(XmlDuration, XmlDuration)),
             (XmlPeriod, make_validators(XmlPeriod, XmlPeriod)),
-            (QName, make_validators(QName, QName)),
+            (ET.QName, make_validators(ET.QName, ET.QName)),
         ]
     )
 else:
diff --git a/tests/conftest.py b/tests/conftest.py
index eeda0a74..5818faac 100644
--- a/tests/conftest.py
+++ b/tests/conftest.py
@@ -16,6 +16,14 @@
 ALL_XML = set(DATA.glob("*.ome.xml"))
 INVALID = {DATA / "invalid_xml_annotation.ome.xml", DATA / "bad.ome.xml"}
 OLD_SCHEMA = {DATA / "seq0000xy01c1.ome.xml", DATA / "2008_instrument.ome.xml"}
+WITH_XML_ANNOTATIONS = {
+    DATA / "ome_ns.ome.xml",
+    DATA / "OverViewScan.ome.xml",
+    DATA / "spim.ome.xml",
+    DATA / "xmlannotation-svg.ome.xml",
+    DATA / "xmlannotation-multi-value.ome.xml",
+    DATA / "xmlannotation-body-space.ome.xml",
+}
 
 
 def _true_stem(p: Path) -> str:
@@ -39,6 +47,11 @@ def invalid_xml(request: pytest.FixtureRequest) -> Path:
     return request.param
 
 
+@pytest.fixture(params=sorted(WITH_XML_ANNOTATIONS), ids=_true_stem)
+def with_xml_annotations(request: pytest.FixtureRequest) -> Path:
+    return request.param
+
+
 @pytest.fixture
 def single_xml() -> Path:
     return DATA / "example.ome.xml"
diff --git a/tests/test_model.py b/tests/test_model.py
index 9febf81d..fe014bbc 100644
--- a/tests/test_model.py
+++ b/tests/test_model.py
@@ -227,6 +227,22 @@ def test_numpy_pixel_types() -> None:
         numpy.dtype(m.numpy_dtype)
 
 
+def test_xml_annotations_to_etree(with_xml_annotations: Path) -> None:
+    from xsdata_pydantic_basemodel.compat import AnyElement
+
+    try:
+        from lxml.etree import _Element as Elem
+    except ImportError:
+        from xml.etree.ElementTree import Element as Elem  # type: ignore
+
+    ome = from_xml(with_xml_annotations)
+    for anno in ome.structured_annotations:
+        if isinstance(anno, model.XMLAnnotation):
+            for elem in anno.value.any_elements:
+                assert isinstance(elem, AnyElement)
+                assert isinstance(elem.to_etree_element(), Elem)
+
+
 def test_update_unset(pixels: model.Pixels) -> None:
     """Make sure objects appended to mutable sequences are included in the xml."""
     ome = model.OME()