diff --git a/tree.c b/tree.c
index 9d330b85..e154ec02 100644
--- a/tree.c
+++ b/tree.c
@@ -1401,6 +1401,8 @@ xmlStringLenGetNodeList(const xmlDoc *doc, const xmlChar *value, int len) {
 			else if ((ent != NULL) && (ent->children == NULL)) {
 			    xmlNodePtr temp;
 
+                            /* Set to non-NULL value to avoid recursion. */
+			    ent->children = (xmlNodePtr) -1;
 			    ent->children = xmlStringGetNodeList(doc,
 				    (const xmlChar*)node->content);
 			    ent->owner = 1;
@@ -1593,6 +1595,7 @@ xmlStringGetNodeList(const xmlDoc *doc, const xmlChar *value) {
 			else if ((ent != NULL) && (ent->children == NULL)) {
 			    xmlNodePtr temp;
 
+                            /* Set to non-NULL value to avoid recursion. */
 			    ent->children = (xmlNodePtr) -1;
 			    ent->children = xmlStringGetNodeList(doc,
 				    (const xmlChar*)node->content);
@@ -1600,6 +1603,7 @@ xmlStringGetNodeList(const xmlDoc *doc, const xmlChar *value) {
 			    temp = ent->children;
 			    while (temp) {
 				temp->parent = (xmlNodePtr)ent;
+				ent->last = temp;
 				temp = temp->next;
 			    }
 			}