diff --git a/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.cpp b/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.cpp
index 6e2c0cb9ea4..8cd6da10714 100644
--- a/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.cpp
+++ b/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.cpp
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ QXmlStreamReader::TokenType QXmlStreamReader::tokenType() const
 bool QXmlStreamReader::readNextStartElement()
 {
     while (readNext() != Invalid) {
-        if (isEndElement())
+        if (isEndElement() || isEndDocument())
             return false;
         else if (isStartElement())
             return true;
diff --git a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream/tst_qxmlstream.cpp b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream/tst_qxmlstream.cpp
index 8b45cd214d7..d924aefd07a 100644
--- a/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream/tst_qxmlstream.cpp
+++ b/tests/auto/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream/tst_qxmlstream.cpp
@@ -1147,6 +1147,10 @@ void tst_QXmlStream::readNextStartElement() const
     }
 
     QCOMPARE(amountOfB, 2);
+
+    // well-formed document end follows
+    QVERIFY(!reader.readNextStartElement());
+    QCOMPARE(reader.error(), QXmlStreamReader::NoError);
 }
 
 void tst_QXmlStream::readElementText() const