diff --git a/tests/src/xml.c b/tests/src/xml.c
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..3731fbe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/xml.c
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+/*
+ * @file xml.c
+ * @author: Radek Krejci <rkrejci@cesnet.cz>
+ * @brief unit tests for functions from xml.c
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2018 CESNET, z.s.p.o.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under BSD 3-Clause License (the "License").
+ * You may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *     https://opensource.org/licenses/BSD-3-Clause
+ */
+
+#define _BSD_SOURCE
+#define _DEFAULT_SOURCE
+#include <stdarg.h>
+#include <stddef.h>
+#include <setjmp.h>
+#include <cmocka.h>
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "libyang.h"
+#include "../../src/xml.c"
+
+#define BUFSIZE 1024
+char logbuf[BUFSIZE] = {0};
+
+/* set to 0 to printing error messages to stderr instead of checking them in code */
+#define ENABLE_LOGGER_CHECKING 1
+
+static void
+logger(LY_LOG_LEVEL level, const char *msg, const char *path)
+{
+    (void) level; /* unused */
+
+    if (path) {
+        snprintf(logbuf, BUFSIZE - 1, "%s %s", msg, path);
+    } else {
+        strncpy(logbuf, msg, BUFSIZE - 1);
+    }
+}
+
+static int
+logger_setup(void **state)
+{
+    (void) state; /* unused */
+#if ENABLE_LOGGER_CHECKING
+    ly_set_log_clb(logger, 1);
+#endif
+    return 0;
+}
+
+void
+logbuf_clean(void)
+{
+    logbuf[0] = '\0';
+}
+
+#if ENABLE_LOGGER_CHECKING
+#   define logbuf_assert(str) assert_string_equal(logbuf, str)
+#else
+#   define logbuf_assert(str)
+#endif
+
+static void
+test_element(void **state)
+{
+    (void) state; /* unused */
+
+    size_t name_len, prefix_len;
+    const char *name, *prefix;
+    const char *str, *p;
+
+    struct lyxml_context ctx;
+    memset(&ctx, 0, sizeof ctx);
+    ctx.line = 1;
+
+    /* empty */
+    str = "";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(name);
+    assert_true(str[0] == '\0');
+
+    /* no element */
+    logbuf_clean();
+    str = p = "no data present";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_EINVAL, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(name);
+    assert_ptr_equal(p, str); /* input data not eaten */
+    logbuf_assert("");
+
+    /* not supported DOCTYPE */
+    str = p = "<!DOCTYPE greeting SYSTEM \"hello.dtd\"><greeting/>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_EVALID, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(name);
+    assert_ptr_equal(p, str); /* input data not eaten */
+    logbuf_assert("Document Type Declaration not supported. Line number 1.");
+
+    /* unqualified element */
+    str = "  <  element/>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(prefix);
+    assert_false(strncmp("element", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(7, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal("/>", str);
+
+    str = "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>  <!-- comment --> <?TEST xxx?> <element/>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(prefix);
+    assert_false(strncmp("element", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(7, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal("/>", str);
+
+    str = "<element xmlns=\"urn\"></element>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_null(prefix);
+    assert_false(strncmp("element", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(7, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal(" xmlns=\"urn\"></element>", str);
+
+    /* qualified element */
+    str = "  <  yin:element/>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("yin", prefix, prefix_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("element", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(3, prefix_len);
+    assert_int_equal(7, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal("/>", str);
+
+    str = "<yin:element xmlns=\"urn\"></element>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("yin", prefix, prefix_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("element", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(3, prefix_len);
+    assert_int_equal(7, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal(" xmlns=\"urn\"></element>", str);
+
+    /* UTF8 characters */
+    str = "<𠜎€𠜎Øn:𠜎€𠜎Øn/>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_SUCCESS, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("𠜎€𠜎Øn", prefix, prefix_len));
+    assert_false(strncmp("𠜎€𠜎Øn", name, name_len));
+    assert_int_equal(14, prefix_len);
+    assert_int_equal(14, name_len);
+    assert_string_equal("/>", str);
+
+    /* invalid UTF-8 character */
+    str = "<¢:element>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_EVALID, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    logbuf_assert("Identifier \"¢:element>\" starts with invalid character. Line number 1.");
+    str = "<yin:c⁐element>";
+    assert_int_equal(LY_EVALID, lyxml_get_element(&ctx, &str, 0, &prefix, &prefix_len, &name, &name_len));
+    logbuf_assert("Invalid character 0x9081e2. Line number 1.");
+}
+
+int main(void)
+{
+    const struct CMUnitTest tests[] = {
+        cmocka_unit_test_setup(test_element, logger_setup),
+    };
+
+    return cmocka_run_group_tests(tests, NULL, NULL);
+}