0
@@ -135,14 +135,25 @@ static VALUE attribute_at(VALUE self, VALUE index)
0
 static VALUE reader_attribute(VALUE self, VALUE name)
0
 {
0
   xmlTextReaderPtr reader;
0
+  xmlChar *value ;
0
   Data_Get_Struct(self, xmlTextReader, reader);
0
 
0
   if(name == Qnil) return Qnil;
0
-
0
-  xmlChar * value = xmlTextReaderGetAttribute(
0
-      reader,
0
-      (const xmlChar *)StringValuePtr(name)
0
-  );
0
+  name = StringValue(name) ;
0
+
0
+  value = xmlTextReaderGetAttribute(reader, (xmlChar*)RSTRING(name)->ptr );
0
+  if(value == NULL) {
0
+    /* this section is an attempt to workaround older versions of libxml that
0
+       don't handle namespaces properly in all attribute-and-friends functions */
0
+    xmlChar *prefix = NULL ;
0
+    xmlChar *localname = xmlSplitQName2((xmlChar*)RSTRING(name)->ptr, &prefix);
0
+    if (localname != NULL) {
0
+      value = xmlTextReaderLookupNamespace(reader, localname);
0
+      free(localname) ;
0
+    } else {
0
+      value = xmlTextReaderLookupNamespace(reader, prefix);
0
+    }
0
+  }
0
   if(value == NULL) return Qnil;
0
 
0
   VALUE rb_value = rb_str_new2((const char *)value);