diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Core/XmlExtensions.cs b/src/Umbraco.Core/XmlExtensions.cs
index b81785eb7e..e2518c791a 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Core/XmlExtensions.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Core/XmlExtensions.cs
@@ -300,21 +300,17 @@ namespace Umbraco.Core
 
         public static XmlNode GetXmlNode(this XContainer element)
         {
-            using (XmlReader xmlReader = element.CreateReader())
+            using (var xmlReader = element.CreateReader())
             {
-                XmlDocument xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
+                var xmlDoc = new XmlDocument();
                 xmlDoc.Load(xmlReader);
-                return xmlDoc.FirstChild;
+                return xmlDoc.DocumentElement;
             }
         }
 
         public static XmlNode GetXmlNode(this XContainer element, XmlDocument xmlDoc)
         {
-            using (XmlReader xmlReader = element.CreateReader())
-            {
-                xmlDoc.Load(xmlReader);
-                return xmlDoc.DocumentElement;
-            }
+            return xmlDoc.ImportNode(element.GetXmlNode(), true);
         }
 
         // this exists because
diff --git a/src/Umbraco.Tests/XmlExtensionsTests.cs b/src/Umbraco.Tests/XmlExtensionsTests.cs
index 8cd934effc..bc4a281b66 100644
--- a/src/Umbraco.Tests/XmlExtensionsTests.cs
+++ b/src/Umbraco.Tests/XmlExtensionsTests.cs
@@ -29,5 +29,20 @@ namespace Umbraco.Tests
 
             Assert.AreEqual(xmlNode.InnerText, "hello world");
         }
+
+        [Test]
+        public void ToXmlNodeIsNonDestructive()
+        {
+            const string xml = "<root><foo attr=\"123\">hello</foo><bar>world</bar></root>";
+
+            var cdata = new XElement("test", new XText("hello world"));
+            var xdoc = new XmlDocument();
+            xdoc.LoadXml(xml);
+
+            var xmlNode = cdata.GetXmlNode(xdoc);
+
+            Assert.AreEqual(xmlNode.InnerText, "hello world");
+            Assert.AreEqual(xml, xdoc.OuterXml);
+        }
     }
 }
\ No newline at end of file