diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index c82097ceed..c420e9da05 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 # TRILLIAN Changelog
 
+### Election system
+* Reintroduce an exported ectd `NewFactory` function.
+
 ## HEAD
 
 ## v1.7.2
diff --git a/util/election2/etcd/election.go b/util/election2/etcd/election.go
index 8691312be2..cadc0fdd42 100644
--- a/util/election2/etcd/election.go
+++ b/util/election2/etcd/election.go
@@ -132,6 +132,16 @@ type Factory struct {
 	lockDir    string
 }
 
+// NewFactory builds an election factory that uses the given parameters. The
+// passed in etcd client should remain valid for the lifetime of the object.
+func NewFactory(instanceID string, client *clientv3.Client, lockDir string) *Factory {
+	return &Factory{
+		client:     client,
+		instanceID: instanceID,
+		lockDir:    lockDir,
+	}
+}
+
 // NewElection creates a specific Election instance.
 func (f *Factory) NewElection(ctx context.Context, resourceID string) (election2.Election, error) {
 	// TODO(pavelkalinnikov): Re-create the session if it expires.