diff --git a/src/betterproto/enum.py b/src/betterproto/enum.py
index 1e3754326..1b5111300 100644
--- a/src/betterproto/enum.py
+++ b/src/betterproto/enum.py
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ def __new__(
         members = {
             name: value
             for name, value in namespace.items()
-            if not _is_descriptor(value) and name[0] != "_"
+            if not _is_descriptor(value) and not name.startswith("__")
         }
 
         cls = type.__new__(