diff --git a/tinyxml2.cpp b/tinyxml2.cpp
index 42659f2..4bb4d1f 100755
--- a/tinyxml2.cpp
+++ b/tinyxml2.cpp
@@ -924,11 +924,10 @@
         }
 
         p = _value.ParseText( p, "<", flags );
-        if ( !p ) {
-            _document->SetError( XML_ERROR_PARSING_TEXT, start, 0 );
-        }
         if ( p && *p ) {
             return p-1;
+        } else if ( !p ) {
+            _document->SetError( XML_ERROR_PARSING_TEXT, start, 0 );
         }
     }
     return 0;