diff --git a/zipfile2/_zipfile.py b/zipfile2/_zipfile.py
index c4b521c..ef72e12 100644
--- a/zipfile2/_zipfile.py
+++ b/zipfile2/_zipfile.py
@@ -5,6 +5,9 @@
 import string
 import time
 import zipfile
+import warnings
+
+from .common import PY311, metadata_encoding_warning
 
 ZIP_SOFTLINK_ATTRIBUTE_MAGIC = 0xA1ED0000
 
@@ -56,10 +59,18 @@ def __init__(
             archive.
 
         """
-        super(ZipFile, self).__init__(
-            file, mode, compression, allowZip64, compresslevel,
-            strict_timestamps=strict_timestamps,
-            metadata_encoding=metadata_encoding)
+        if PY311:
+            super(ZipFile, self).__init__(
+                file, mode, compression, allowZip64, compresslevel,
+                strict_timestamps=strict_timestamps,
+                metadata_encoding=metadata_encoding)
+        else:
+            if metadata_encoding is not None:
+                warnings.warn(metadata_encoding_warning)
+            super(ZipFile, self).__init__(
+                file, mode, compression, allowZip64, compresslevel,
+                strict_timestamps=strict_timestamps)
+
         self.low_level = low_level
 
         # Set of filenames currently in file
diff --git a/zipfile2/common.py b/zipfile2/common.py
index 47f0694..df6c9fe 100644
--- a/zipfile2/common.py
+++ b/zipfile2/common.py
@@ -4,7 +4,11 @@
 
 PYTHON_VERSION = sys.version_info[:2]
 PY312 = PYTHON_VERSION >= (3, 12)
+PY311 = PYTHON_VERSION >= (3, 11)
 
 
 class TooManyFiles(zipfile.BadZipfile):
     pass
+
+
+metadata_encoding_warning = 'Python < 3.11 does not support the metadata_encoding'  # noqa