diff --git a/src/ol/parser/xml.js b/src/ol/parser/xml.js
index f158ca8614..e5c35f3d5c 100644
--- a/src/ol/parser/xml.js
+++ b/src/ol/parser/xml.js
@@ -256,7 +256,9 @@ ol.parser.XML.prototype.setAttributeNS = function(node, uri, name, value) {
  * @return {string} The serialized XML string.
  */
 ol.parser.XML.prototype.serialize = function(node) {
-  if (node.nodeType == 1) {
+  if (this.xmldom) {
+    return node.xml;
+  } else if (node.nodeType == 1) {
     // Add nodes to a document before serializing. Everything else
     // is serialized as is. This is also needed to get all namespaces
     // defined in some browsers such as Chrome (xmlns attributes).
diff --git a/test/expect-0.2.0-ol3/expect.js b/test/expect-0.2.0-ol3/expect.js
index 987e8b6b8b..e1a8443090 100644
--- a/test/expect-0.2.0-ol3/expect.js
+++ b/test/expect-0.2.0-ol3/expect.js
@@ -318,7 +318,18 @@
         }
         // test attribute namespace
         try {
-          expect(node1Attr[name].namespaceURI).to.equal(node2Attr[name].namespaceURI);
+          var uri1 = node1Attr[name].namespaceURI;
+          var uri2 = node2Attr[name].namespaceURI;
+          // we do not care about the difference between an empty string and null for namespaceURI
+          // some tests will fail in IE9 otherwise
+          // see also http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff460650(v=vs.85).aspx
+          if (uri1 == '') {
+            uri1 = null;
+          }
+          if (uri2 == '') {
+            uri2 = null;
+          }
+          expect(uri1).to.equal(uri2);
         } catch(e) {
           errors.push('namespaceURI attribute test failed for: ' + node1.nodeName + ' | ' + e.message);
         }