diff --git a/semver.py b/semver.py
index 85811fec..f6e5bffc 100644
--- a/semver.py
+++ b/semver.py
@@ -637,8 +637,8 @@ def match(self, match_expr):
 
         return cmp_res in possibilities
 
-    @staticmethod
-    def parse(version):
+    @classmethod
+    def parse(cls, version):
         """
         Parse version string to a VersionInfo instance.
 
@@ -651,7 +651,7 @@ def parse(version):
         VersionInfo(major=3, minor=4, patch=5, \
 prerelease='pre.2', build='build.4')
         """
-        match = VersionInfo._REGEX.match(version)
+        match = cls._REGEX.match(version)
         if match is None:
             raise ValueError("%s is not valid SemVer string" % version)
 
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ def parse(version):
         version_parts["minor"] = int(version_parts["minor"])
         version_parts["patch"] = int(version_parts["patch"])
 
-        return VersionInfo(**version_parts)
+        return cls(**version_parts)
 
     def replace(self, **parts):
         """
diff --git a/test_semver.py b/test_semver.py
index b23576d5..0aeedbdb 100644
--- a/test_semver.py
+++ b/test_semver.py
@@ -1128,3 +1128,21 @@ def test_next_version_with_versioninfo(version, part, expected):
 )
 def test_repr(version, expected):
     assert repr(version) == expected
+
+
+def test_subclass_from_versioninfo():
+    class SemVerWithVPrefix(VersionInfo):
+        @classmethod
+        def parse(cls, version):
+            if not version.startswith("v"):
+                raise ValueError(
+                    "{v}: not a valid semantic version tag".format(v=version)
+                )
+            return super(SemVerWithVPrefix, cls).parse(version[1:])
+
+        def __str__(self):
+            # Reconstruct the tag.
+            return "v" + super(SemVerWithVPrefix, self).__str__()
+
+    v = SemVerWithVPrefix.parse("v1.2.3")
+    assert str(v) == "v1.2.3"