diff --git a/xmlreader.c b/xmlreader.c
index 767bd05..f9c7fa1 100644
--- a/xmlreader.c
+++ b/xmlreader.c
@@ -1228,6 +1228,9 @@
     xmlBufferPtr buffer;
     xmlChar *ret;
 
+    if ((node == NULL) || (node->type == XML_NAMESPACE_DECL))
+        return(NULL);
+
     buffer = xmlBufferCreate();
     if (buffer == NULL)
        return NULL;