diff --git a/ext/dash/gstmpdparser.c b/ext/dash/gstmpdparser.c
index fe9e939235..25dea0892f 100644
--- a/ext/dash/gstmpdparser.c
+++ b/ext/dash/gstmpdparser.c
@@ -958,9 +958,11 @@ gst_mpdparser_get_xml_node_namespace (xmlNode * a_node, const gchar * prefix)
 
   if (prefix == NULL) {
     /* return the default namespace */
-    namespace = xmlMemStrdup ((const gchar *) a_node->ns->href);
-    if (namespace) {
-      GST_LOG (" - default namespace: %s", namespace);
+    if (a_node->ns) {
+      namespace = xmlMemStrdup ((const gchar *) a_node->ns->href);
+      if (namespace) {
+        GST_LOG (" - default namespace: %s", namespace);
+      }
     }
   } else {
     /* look for the specified prefix in the namespace list */
diff --git a/tests/check/elements/dash_mpd.c b/tests/check/elements/dash_mpd.c
index a30baf4c0f..faa3e58944 100644
--- a/tests/check/elements/dash_mpd.c
+++ b/tests/check/elements/dash_mpd.c
@@ -412,6 +412,27 @@ GST_START_TEST (dash_mpdparser_no_end_tag)
 
 GST_END_TEST;
 
+/*
+ * Test parsing an MPD with no default namespace
+ */
+GST_START_TEST (dash_mpdparser_no_default_namespace)
+{
+  const gchar *xml =
+      "<?xml version=\"1.0\"?>"
+      "<MPD profiles=\"urn:mpeg:dash:profile:isoff-main:2011\"></MPD>";
+
+  gboolean ret;
+  GstMpdClient *mpdclient = gst_mpd_client_new ();
+
+  ret = gst_mpd_parse (mpdclient, xml, strlen (xml));
+
+  assert_equals_int (ret, TRUE);
+
+  gst_mpd_client_free (mpdclient);
+}
+
+GST_END_TEST;
+
 /*
  * create a test suite containing all dash testcases
  */
@@ -444,6 +465,7 @@ dash_suite (void)
   tcase_add_test (tc_negativeTests, dash_mpdparser_missing_xml);
   tcase_add_test (tc_negativeTests, dash_mpdparser_missing_mpd);
   tcase_add_test (tc_negativeTests, dash_mpdparser_no_end_tag);
+  tcase_add_test (tc_negativeTests, dash_mpdparser_no_default_namespace);
 
   suite_add_tcase (s, tc_simpleMPD);
   suite_add_tcase (s, tc_negativeTests);