diff --git a/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php b/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
index ad47d3ff2..a13f1baca 100644
--- a/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
+++ b/src/JMS/Serializer/XmlDeserializationVisitor.php
@@ -150,7 +150,8 @@ public function visitArray($data, array $type, Context $context)
             $namespace = isset($classMetadata->xmlNamespaces[''])?$classMetadata->xmlNamespaces['']:$namespace;
         }
 
-        if ( ! isset($data->$entryName) ) {
+        $hasNode = null !== $namespace ? isset($data->children($namespace)->$entryName) : isset($data->$entryName);
+        if (false === $hasNode) {
             if (null === $this->result) {
                 return $this->result = array();
             }