diff --git a/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c b/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
index 8307f1cf47b..37d85f71f3b 100644
--- a/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
+++ b/src/backend/utils/adt/xml.c
@@ -3934,10 +3934,7 @@ xpath_internal(text *xpath_expr_text, xmltype *data, ArrayType *namespaces,
 		if (xpathctx == NULL || xmlerrcxt->err_occurred)
 			xml_ereport(xmlerrcxt, ERROR, ERRCODE_OUT_OF_MEMORY,
 						"could not allocate XPath context");
-		xpathctx->node = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
-		if (xpathctx->node == NULL || xmlerrcxt->err_occurred)
-			xml_ereport(xmlerrcxt, ERROR, ERRCODE_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-						"could not find root XML element");
+		xpathctx->node = (xmlNodePtr) doc;
 
 		/* register namespaces, if any */
 		if (ns_count > 0)
@@ -4276,10 +4273,7 @@ XmlTableSetDocument(TableFuncScanState *state, Datum value)
 		if (xpathcxt == NULL || xtCxt->xmlerrcxt->err_occurred)
 			xml_ereport(xtCxt->xmlerrcxt, ERROR, ERRCODE_OUT_OF_MEMORY,
 						"could not allocate XPath context");
-		xpathcxt->node = xmlDocGetRootElement(doc);
-		if (xpathcxt->node == NULL || xtCxt->xmlerrcxt->err_occurred)
-			xml_ereport(xtCxt->xmlerrcxt, ERROR, ERRCODE_INTERNAL_ERROR,
-						"could not find root XML element");
+		xpathcxt->node = (xmlNodePtr) doc;
 	}
 	PG_CATCH();
 	{
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
index 3eb638ca258..6e1f885112c 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml.out
@@ -670,6 +670,12 @@ SELECT xpath('/nosuchtag', '<root/>');
  {}
 (1 row)
 
+SELECT xpath('root', '<root/>');
+   xpath   
+-----------
+ {<root/>}
+(1 row)
+
 -- Round-trip non-ASCII data through xpath().
 DO $$
 DECLARE
@@ -1212,7 +1218,7 @@ SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaa
 SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaaa?> <!--z-->  bbbb<x>xxx</x>cccc</element></root>' COLUMNS element text PATH 'element/text()'); -- should fail
 ERROR:  more than one value returned by column XPath expression
 -- CDATA test
-select * from xmltable('r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
+select * from xmltable('d/r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
             c            
 -------------------------
  <hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
index 2053734f65f..0eba4243462 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_1.out
@@ -576,6 +576,12 @@ LINE 1: SELECT xpath('/nosuchtag', '<root/>');
                                    ^
 DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
 HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
+SELECT xpath('root', '<root/>');
+ERROR:  unsupported XML feature
+LINE 1: SELECT xpath('root', '<root/>');
+                             ^
+DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
+HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
 -- Round-trip non-ASCII data through xpath().
 DO $$
 DECLARE
@@ -1067,10 +1073,10 @@ LINE 1: SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!...
 DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
 HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
 -- CDATA test
-select * from xmltable('r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
+select * from xmltable('d/r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
 ERROR:  unsupported XML feature
-LINE 1: select * from xmltable('r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello...
-                                           ^
+LINE 1: select * from xmltable('d/r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hel...
+                                             ^
 DETAIL:  This functionality requires the server to be built with libxml support.
 HINT:  You need to rebuild PostgreSQL using --with-libxml.
 -- XML builtin entities
diff --git a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
index cb865a9ef77..3ec56e4c54b 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
+++ b/src/test/regress/expected/xml_2.out
@@ -650,6 +650,12 @@ SELECT xpath('/nosuchtag', '<root/>');
  {}
 (1 row)
 
+SELECT xpath('root', '<root/>');
+   xpath   
+-----------
+ {<root/>}
+(1 row)
+
 -- Round-trip non-ASCII data through xpath().
 DO $$
 DECLARE
@@ -1192,7 +1198,7 @@ SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaa
 SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaaa?> <!--z-->  bbbb<x>xxx</x>cccc</element></root>' COLUMNS element text PATH 'element/text()'); -- should fail
 ERROR:  more than one value returned by column XPath expression
 -- CDATA test
-select * from xmltable('r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
+select * from xmltable('d/r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
             c            
 -------------------------
  <hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>
diff --git a/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql b/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
index c223603a1f2..3b91b56d5a9 100644
--- a/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
+++ b/src/test/regress/sql/xml.sql
@@ -188,6 +188,7 @@ SELECT xpath('count(//*)=0', '<root><sub/><sub/></root>');
 SELECT xpath('count(//*)=3', '<root><sub/><sub/></root>');
 SELECT xpath('name(/*)', '<root><sub/><sub/></root>');
 SELECT xpath('/nosuchtag', '<root/>');
+SELECT xpath('root', '<root/>');
 
 -- Round-trip non-ASCII data through xpath().
 DO $$
@@ -423,7 +424,7 @@ SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaa
 SELECT * FROM xmltable('/root' passing '<root><element>a1a<!-- aaaa -->a2a<?aaaaa?> <!--z-->  bbbb<x>xxx</x>cccc</element></root>' COLUMNS element text PATH 'element/text()'); -- should fail
 
 -- CDATA test
-select * from xmltable('r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
+select * from xmltable('d/r' passing '<d><r><c><![CDATA[<hello> &"<>!<a>foo</a>]]></c></r><r><c>2</c></r></d>' columns c text);
 
 -- XML builtin entities
 SELECT * FROM xmltable('/x/a' PASSING '<x><a><ent>&apos;</ent></a><a><ent>&quot;</ent></a><a><ent>&amp;</ent></a><a><ent>&lt;</ent></a><a><ent>&gt;</ent></a></x>' COLUMNS ent text);