diff --git a/src/parser_xml.c b/src/parser_xml.c
index 1f395b8..5e9d5c3 100644
--- a/src/parser_xml.c
+++ b/src/parser_xml.c
@@ -979,6 +979,12 @@
 
     assert(envp && !*envp);
 
+    if (xmlctx->status != LYXML_ELEMENT) {
+        /* nothing to parse */
+        assert(xmlctx->status == LYXML_END);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     /* parse "rpc" */
     r = lydxml_envelope(xmlctx, "rpc", "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0", 0, envp);
     LY_CHECK_ERR_GOTO(r, rc = r, cleanup);
@@ -1027,6 +1033,12 @@
 
     assert(envp && !*envp);
 
+    if (xmlctx->status != LYXML_ELEMENT) {
+        /* nothing to parse */
+        assert(xmlctx->status == LYXML_END);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     /* parse "notification" */
     r = lydxml_envelope(xmlctx, "notification", "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:notification:1.0", 0, envp);
     LY_CHECK_ERR_GOTO(r, rc = r, cleanup);
@@ -1453,6 +1465,12 @@
 
     assert(envp && !*envp);
 
+    if (xmlctx->status != LYXML_ELEMENT) {
+        /* nothing to parse */
+        assert(xmlctx->status == LYXML_END);
+        goto cleanup;
+    }
+
     /* parse "rpc-reply" */
     r = lydxml_envelope(xmlctx, "rpc-reply", "urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0", 0, envp);
     LY_CHECK_ERR_GOTO(r, rc = r, cleanup);