diff -r de13d477b43f src/pkg/xml/read.go
--- a/src/pkg/xml/read.go	Thu Sep 15 21:32:34 2011 +1000
+++ b/src/pkg/xml/read.go	Fri Sep 16 21:17:07 2011 +0100
@@ -321,10 +321,9 @@
 
 			// Save
 			v := sv.FieldByIndex(f.Index)
-			if _, ok := v.Interface().(Name); !ok {
-				return UnmarshalError(sv.Type().String() + " field XMLName does not have type xml.Name")
+			if _, ok := v.Interface().(Name); ok {
+			    v.Set(reflect.ValueOf(start.Name))
 			}
-			v.Set(reflect.ValueOf(start.Name))
 		}
 
 		// Assign attributes.