python
diff --git a/Doc/library/http.server.rst b/Doc/library/http.server.rst
@@ -413,6 +413,11 @@ the current directory::
        print("serving at port", PORT)
        httpd.serve_forever()
 
+
+:class:`SimpleHTTPRequestHandler` can also be subclassed to enhance behavior,
+such as using different index file names by overriding the class attribute
+:attr:`index_pages`.
+
 .. _http-server-cli:
 
 :mod:`http.server` can also be invoked directly using the :option:`-m`

diff --git a/Lib/http/server.py b/Lib/http/server.py
@@ -652,20 +652,18 @@ class SimpleHTTPRequestHandler(BaseHTTPRequestHandler):
 
     """
 
-    index_pages = ["index.html", "index.htm"]
     server_version = "SimpleHTTP/" + __version__
+    index_pages = ("index.html", "index.htm")
     extensions_map = _encodings_map_default = {
         '.gz': 'application/gzip',
         '.Z': 'application/octet-stream',
         '.bz2': 'application/x-bzip2',
         '.xz': 'application/x-xz',
     }
 
-    def __init__(self, *args, directory=None, index_pages=None, **kwargs):
+    def __init__(self, *args, directory=None, **kwargs):
         if directory is None:
             directory = os.getcwd()
-        if index_pages is not None:
-            self.index_pages = index_pages
         self.directory = os.fspath(directory)
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
 

diff --git a/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2023-01-03-11-06-28.gh-issue-91219.s5IFCw.rst b/Misc/NEWS.d/next/Library/2023-01-03-11-06-28.gh-issue-91219.s5IFCw.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Change ``SimpleHTTPRequestHandler`` to support subclassing to provide a
+different set of index file names instead of using ``__init__`` parameters.
Original file line number	Diff line number	Diff line change
		@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
		Change ``SimpleHTTPRequestHandler`` to support subclassing to provide a
		different set of index file names instead of using ``__init__`` parameters.