The iab-8 ncRNA of Drosophila melanogaster had previously been described as a repressor of the Hox gene abd-A in parasegment 13 of the embryonic central nervous system via both the production of a microRNA and a second, cis- acting mechanism, which was proposed to be transcriptional interference. Using genetic reporters to reproduce the interaction between the iab-8 ncRNA and abd-A, we confirmed this hypothesis. This mechanism is most likely dependent on the production of a CNS-specific isoform of the iab-8 ncRNA that invades the transcriptional unit of abd-A. The generation of this isoform relies on the activity of the RNA-binding protein ELAV that mediates alternative splicing of genes produced in neurons. Failure in the production of these transcripts in elav mutants causes derepression of abd-A in PS13 of the CNS. Based on these findings, we propose that ELAV mediates the repression of abd-A by transcriptional interference in the embryonic CNS of Drosophila.