diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
index 3a857bb0260..a456dca458d 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
@@ -4608,6 +4608,12 @@ XmlTableGetValue(TableFuncScanState *state, int colnum,
 				xmlChar    *str;
 				xmlNodePtr	node;
 
+				node = xpathobj->nodesetval->nodeTab[0];
+				if (node->type == XML_NAMESPACE_DECL)
+					ereport(ERROR,
+							(errcode(ERRCODE_FEATURE_NOT_SUPPORTED),
+							 errmsg("XMLTABLE cannot cast a namespace node to a non-XML result type")));
+
 				/*
 				 * Most nodes (elements and even attributes) store their data
 				 * in children nodes. If they don't have children nodes, it
@@ -4615,7 +4621,6 @@ XmlTableGetValue(TableFuncScanState *state, int colnum,
 				 * CDATA sections are an exception: they don't have children
 				 * but have content in the Text/CDATA node itself.
 				 */
-				node = xpathobj->nodesetval->nodeTab[0];
 				if (node->type != XML_CDATA_SECTION_NODE &&
 					node->type != XML_TEXT_NODE)
 					node = node->xmlChildrenNode;
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
index 61fe3b44034..d887a314815 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
@@ -1167,6 +1167,10 @@ SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE(XMLNAMESPACES(DEFAULT 'http://x.y'),
                       PASSING '<rows xmlns="http://x.y"><row><a>10</a></row></rows>'
                       COLUMNS a int PATH 'a');
 ERROR:  DEFAULT namespace is not supported
+SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE('/'
+                       PASSING '<foo/>'
+                       COLUMNS a text PATH 'foo/namespace::node()');
+ERROR:  XMLTABLE cannot cast a namespace node to a non-XML result type
 -- used in prepare statements
 PREPARE pp AS
 SELECT  xmltable.*
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
index c20caea08af..9f2b0904f67 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
@@ -1042,6 +1042,14 @@ LINE 3:                       PASSING '<rows xmlns="http://x.y"><row...
                                       ^
 DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
 HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
+SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE('/'
+                       PASSING '<foo/>'
+                       COLUMNS a text PATH 'foo/namespace::node()');
+ERROR:  unsupported XML feature
+LINE 2:                        PASSING '<foo/>'
+                                       ^
+DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
+HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
 -- used in prepare statements
 PREPARE pp AS
 SELECT  xmltable.*
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
index 1e763acb444..f11eebfd911 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
@@ -1147,6 +1147,10 @@ SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE(XMLNAMESPACES(DEFAULT 'http://x.y'),
                       PASSING '<rows xmlns="http://x.y"><row><a>10</a></row></rows>'
                       COLUMNS a int PATH 'a');
 ERROR:  DEFAULT namespace is not supported
+SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE('/'
+                       PASSING '<foo/>'
+                       COLUMNS a text PATH 'foo/namespace::node()');
+ERROR:  XMLTABLE cannot cast a namespace node to a non-XML result type
 -- used in prepare statements
 PREPARE pp AS
 SELECT  xmltable.*
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
index e5eb0110e25..f7f5edc7171 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
@@ -401,6 +401,10 @@ SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE(XMLNAMESPACES(DEFAULT 'http://x.y'),
                       PASSING '<rows xmlns="http://x.y"><row><a>10</a></row></rows>'
                       COLUMNS a int PATH 'a');
 
+SELECT * FROM XMLTABLE('/'
+                       PASSING '<foo/>'
+                       COLUMNS a text PATH 'foo/namespace::node()');
+
 -- used in prepare statements
 PREPARE pp AS
 SELECT  xmltable.*