diff --git a/acceptance_tests/output-format.sh b/acceptance_tests/output-format.sh
index 1ba77ffe..995f0fcf 100755
--- a/acceptance_tests/output-format.sh
+++ b/acceptance_tests/output-format.sh
@@ -142,16 +142,17 @@ EOM
   assertEquals "$expected" "$X"
 }
 
-testOutputXmlMultiPropertiesMultietc() {
+testOutputXmComplex() {
   cat >test.yml <<EOL
-a: {b: {c: ["cat"]}}asd
+a: {b: {c: ["cat", "dog"], +f: meow}}
 EOL
 
   read -r -d '' expected << EOM
 <a>
-  <b>
+  <b f="meow">
     <c>cat</c>
-  </b>asd
+    <c>dog</c>
+  </b>
 </a>
 EOM
 
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/xml.md b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/xml.md
index b182a97b..1bf3d01a 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/xml.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/headers/xml.md
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 Encode and decode to and from XML. Whitespace is not conserved for round trips - but the order of the fields are.
 
-As yaml does not have the concept of attributes, xml attributes are converted to regular fields with a prefix to prevent clobbering. This defaults to "+", use the `--xml-attribute-prefix` to change.
-
 Consecutive xml nodes with the same name are assumed to be arrays.
 
 All values in XML are assumed to be strings - but you can use `from_yaml` to parse them into their correct types:
@@ -14,8 +12,6 @@ yq e -p=xml '.myNumberField |= from_yaml' my.xml
 ```
 
 
-XML nodes that have attributes then plain content, e.g:
-
 ```xml
 <cat name="tiger">meow</cat>
 ```
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/xml.md b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/xml.md
index 5b08ad9a..c18a039e 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/xml.md
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/doc/usage/xml.md
@@ -2,8 +2,6 @@
 
 Encode and decode to and from XML. Whitespace is not conserved for round trips - but the order of the fields are.
 
-As yaml does not have the concept of attributes, xml attributes are converted to regular fields with a prefix to prevent clobbering. This defaults to "+", use the `--xml-attribute-prefix` to change.
-
 Consecutive xml nodes with the same name are assumed to be arrays.
 
 All values in XML are assumed to be strings - but you can use `from_yaml` to parse them into their correct types:
@@ -14,8 +12,6 @@ yq e -p=xml '.myNumberField |= from_yaml' my.xml
 ```
 
 
-XML nodes that have attributes then plain content, e.g:
-
 ```xml
 <cat name="tiger">meow</cat>
 ```
@@ -58,7 +54,7 @@ animal:
 ```
 
 ## Parse xml: attributes
-Attributes are converted to fields, with the attribute prefix.
+Attributes are converted to fields, with the default attribute prefix '+'. Use '--xml-attribute-prefix` to set your own.
 
 Given a sample.xml file of:
 ```xml
@@ -79,7 +75,7 @@ cat:
 ```
 
 ## Parse xml: attributes with content
-Content is added as a field, using the content name
+Content is added as a field, using the default content name of '+content'. Use `--xml-content-name` to set your own.
 
 Given a sample.xml file of:
 ```xml
@@ -271,24 +267,18 @@ for x --></x>
 ```
 then
 ```bash
-yq e -p=xml '.' sample.xml
+yq e -p=xml -o=xml '.' sample.xml
 ```
 will output
-```yaml
-# before cat
-cat:
-  # in cat before
-  x: "3" # multi
-  # line comment 
-  # for x
-  # before y
-
-  y:
-    # in y before
-    # in d before
-    d: z # in d after
-    # in y after
-  # in_cat_after
-# after cat
+```xml
+<!-- before cat --><cat><!-- in cat before -->
+  <x>3<!-- multi
+line comment 
+for x --></x><!-- before y -->
+  <y><!-- in y before
+in d before -->
+    <d>z<!-- in d after --></d><!-- in y after -->
+  </y><!-- in_cat_after -->
+</cat><!-- after cat -->
 ```
 
diff --git a/pkg/yqlib/xml_test.go b/pkg/yqlib/xml_test.go
index e375c49d..2d39c5c3 100644
--- a/pkg/yqlib/xml_test.go
+++ b/pkg/yqlib/xml_test.go
@@ -217,13 +217,13 @@ var xmlScenarios = []xmlScenario{
 	},
 	{
 		description:    "Parse xml: attributes",
-		subdescription: "Attributes are converted to fields, with the attribute prefix.",
+		subdescription: "Attributes are converted to fields, with the default attribute prefix '+'. Use '--xml-attribute-prefix` to set your own.",
 		input:          "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<cat legs=\"4\">\n  <legs>7</legs>\n</cat>",
 		expected:       "D0, P[], (doc)::cat:\n    +legs: \"4\"\n    legs: \"7\"\n",
 	},
 	{
 		description:    "Parse xml: attributes with content",
-		subdescription: "Content is added as a field, using the content name",
+		subdescription: "Content is added as a field, using the default content name of '+content'. Use `--xml-content-name` to set your own.",
 		input:          "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\"?>\n<cat legs=\"4\">meow</cat>",
 		expected:       "D0, P[], (doc)::cat:\n    +content: meow\n    +legs: \"4\"\n",
 	},
@@ -313,6 +313,8 @@ func documentXmlScenario(t *testing.T, w *bufio.Writer, i interface{}) {
 	}
 	if s.scenarioType == "encode" {
 		documentXmlEncodeScenario(w, s)
+	} else if s.scenarioType == "roundtrip" {
+		documentXmlRoundTripScenario(w, s)
 	} else {
 		documentXmlDecodeScenario(t, w, s)
 	}
@@ -366,6 +368,24 @@ func documentXmlEncodeScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s xmlScenario) {
 	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```xml\n%v```\n\n", processScenario(s)))
 }
 
+func documentXmlRoundTripScenario(w *bufio.Writer, s xmlScenario) {
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("## %v\n", s.description))
+
+	if s.subdescription != "" {
+		writeOrPanic(w, s.subdescription)
+		writeOrPanic(w, "\n\n")
+	}
+
+	writeOrPanic(w, "Given a sample.xml file of:\n")
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```xml\n%v\n```\n", s.input))
+
+	writeOrPanic(w, "then\n")
+	writeOrPanic(w, "```bash\nyq e -p=xml -o=xml '.' sample.xml\n```\n")
+	writeOrPanic(w, "will output\n")
+
+	writeOrPanic(w, fmt.Sprintf("```xml\n%v```\n\n", processScenario(s)))
+}
+
 func TestXmlScenarios(t *testing.T) {
 	for _, tt := range xmlScenarios {
 		testXmlScenario(t, tt)