diff --git a/include/aws/common/private/xml_parser_impl.h b/include/aws/common/private/xml_parser_impl.h
index eea061b1e..d9763e88e 100644
--- a/include/aws/common/private/xml_parser_impl.h
+++ b/include/aws/common/private/xml_parser_impl.h
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ struct aws_xml_node {
     struct aws_array_list attributes;
     struct aws_byte_cursor doc_at_body;
     bool processed;
+    bool is_empty;
 };
 
 struct aws_xml_parser {
diff --git a/include/aws/common/ref_count.h b/include/aws/common/ref_count.h
index 5166eb3f3..43fbde5e5 100644
--- a/include/aws/common/ref_count.h
+++ b/include/aws/common/ref_count.h
@@ -8,11 +8,10 @@
 #include <aws/common/common.h>
 
 #include <aws/common/atomics.h>
+#include <aws/common/shutdown_types.h>
 
 AWS_PUSH_SANE_WARNING_LEVEL
 
-typedef void(aws_simple_completion_callback)(void *);
-
 /*
  * A utility type for making ref-counted types, reminiscent of std::shared_ptr in C++
  */
@@ -22,11 +21,6 @@ struct aws_ref_count {
     aws_simple_completion_callback *on_zero_fn;
 };
 
-struct aws_shutdown_callback_options {
-    aws_simple_completion_callback *shutdown_callback_fn;
-    void *shutdown_callback_user_data;
-};
-
 AWS_EXTERN_C_BEGIN
 
 /**
diff --git a/include/aws/common/shutdown_types.h b/include/aws/common/shutdown_types.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4ade53a0c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/include/aws/common/shutdown_types.h
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+#ifndef AWS_COMMON_SHUTDOWN_TYPES_H
+#define AWS_COMMON_SHUTDOWN_TYPES_H
+
+/**
+ * Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
+ * SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0.
+ */
+
+#include <aws/common/common.h>
+
+AWS_PUSH_SANE_WARNING_LEVEL
+
+typedef void(aws_simple_completion_callback)(void *);
+
+/**
+ * Configuration for a callback to invoke when something has been completely
+ * cleaned up.  Primarily used in async cleanup control flows.
+ */
+struct aws_shutdown_callback_options {
+
+    /**
+     * Function to invoke when the associated object is fully destroyed.
+     */
+    aws_simple_completion_callback *shutdown_callback_fn;
+
+    /**
+     * User data to invoke the shutdown callback with.
+     */
+    void *shutdown_callback_user_data;
+};
+
+AWS_POP_SANE_WARNING_LEVEL
+
+#endif /* AWS_COMMON_SHUTDOWN_TYPES_H */
diff --git a/source/xml_parser.c b/source/xml_parser.c
index e1b580740..7675bff30 100644
--- a/source/xml_parser.c
+++ b/source/xml_parser.c
@@ -40,6 +40,8 @@ static int s_load_node_decl(
     AWS_PRECONDITION(decl_body);
     AWS_PRECONDITION(node);
 
+    node->is_empty = decl_body->ptr[decl_body->len - 1] == '/';
+
     struct aws_array_list splits;
     AWS_ZERO_STRUCT(splits);
 
@@ -158,6 +160,14 @@ int s_advance_to_closing_tag(
     AWS_PRECONDITION(parser);
     AWS_PRECONDITION(node);
 
+    if (node->is_empty) {
+        if (out_body) {
+            out_body->ptr = NULL;
+            out_body->len = 0;
+        }
+        return AWS_OP_SUCCESS;
+    }
+
     /* currently the max node name is 256 characters. This is arbitrary, but should be enough
      * for our uses. If we ever generalize this, we'll have to come back and rethink this. */
     uint8_t name_close[MAX_NAME_LEN + NODE_CLOSE_OVERHEAD] = {0};
diff --git a/tests/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
index d3556c5f7..36feaa367 100644
--- a/tests/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -467,6 +467,7 @@ add_test_case(xml_parser_nested_node_same_name_test)
 add_test_case(xml_parser_nested_node_deep_recursion_test)
 add_test_case(xml_parser_too_many_attributes_test)
 add_test_case(xml_parser_name_too_long_test)
+add_test_case(xml_parser_child_empty_tag)
 
 add_test_case(test_thread_scheduler_ordering)
 add_test_case(test_thread_scheduler_happy_path_cancellation)
diff --git a/tests/xml_parser_test.c b/tests/xml_parser_test.c
index 9a3b33041..06d01107d 100644
--- a/tests/xml_parser_test.c
+++ b/tests/xml_parser_test.c
@@ -165,6 +165,42 @@ static int s_xml_parser_siblings_with_text_test(struct aws_allocator *allocator,
 
 AWS_TEST_CASE(xml_parser_siblings_with_text, s_xml_parser_siblings_with_text_test)
 
+const char *siblings_with_empty_tag = "<?xml version=\"1.0\" "
+                                      "encoding=\"UTF-8\"?><rootNode><child1 /><child2>TestBody2</child2></rootNode>";
+
+static int s_xml_parser_child_empty_tag(struct aws_allocator *allocator, void *ctx) {
+    (void)ctx;
+    struct sibling_text_capture capture;
+    AWS_ZERO_STRUCT(capture);
+
+    capture.capture1 = aws_byte_cursor_from_c_str("random values");
+
+    struct aws_xml_parser_options options = {
+        .doc = aws_byte_cursor_from_c_str(siblings_with_empty_tag),
+        .on_root_encountered = s_root_with_child_siblings,
+        .user_data = &capture,
+    };
+    ASSERT_SUCCESS(aws_xml_parse(allocator, &options));
+
+    const char expected_name1[] = "child1";
+
+    const char expected_name2[] = "child2";
+    const char expected_value2[] = "TestBody2";
+
+    ASSERT_BIN_ARRAYS_EQUALS(
+        expected_name1, sizeof(expected_name1) - 1, capture.node_name1.ptr, capture.node_name1.len);
+    ASSERT_PTR_EQUALS(capture.capture1.ptr, NULL);
+    ASSERT_UINT_EQUALS(capture.capture1.len, 0);
+
+    ASSERT_BIN_ARRAYS_EQUALS(
+        expected_name2, sizeof(expected_name2) - 1, capture.node_name2.ptr, capture.node_name2.len);
+    ASSERT_BIN_ARRAYS_EQUALS(expected_value2, sizeof(expected_value2) - 1, capture.capture2.ptr, capture.capture2.len);
+
+    return AWS_OP_SUCCESS;
+}
+
+AWS_TEST_CASE(xml_parser_child_empty_tag, s_xml_parser_child_empty_tag)
+
 const char *preamble_and_attributes =
     "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n"
     "<!DOCTYPE html \n"