diff --git a/ICD.Common.Utils.Tests/Xml/GenericXmlConverterTest.cs b/ICD.Common.Utils.Tests/Xml/GenericXmlConverterTest.cs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c38ddb9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/ICD.Common.Utils.Tests/Xml/GenericXmlConverterTest.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,155 @@
+using System.Xml;
+using ICD.Common.Utils.Xml;
+using NUnit.Framework;
+
+namespace ICD.Common.Utils.Tests.Xml
+{
+	[TestFixture]
+	public sealed class GenericXmlConverterTest
+	{
+		[XmlConverter(typeof(TestClassConverter))]
+		private sealed class TestClass
+		{
+			public string A { get; set; }
+			public int B { get; set; }
+		}
+		
+		private sealed class TestClassConverter : AbstractGenericXmlConverter<TestClass>
+		{
+			private const string ELEMENT_A = "A";
+			private const string ATTRIBUTE_B = "b";
+
+			/// <summary>
+			/// Override to handle the current attribute.
+			/// </summary>
+			/// <param name="reader"></param>
+			/// <param name="instance"></param>
+			protected override void ReadAttribute(IcdXmlReader reader, TestClass instance)
+			{
+				switch (reader.Name)
+				{
+					case ATTRIBUTE_B:
+						instance.B = int.Parse(reader.Value);
+						break;
+
+					default:
+						base.ReadAttribute(reader, instance);
+						break;
+				}
+			}
+
+			/// <summary>
+			/// Override to handle the current element.
+			/// </summary>
+			/// <param name="reader"></param>
+			/// <param name="instance"></param>
+			protected override void ReadElement(IcdXmlReader reader, TestClass instance)
+			{
+				switch (reader.Name)
+				{
+					case ELEMENT_A:
+						instance.A = reader.ReadElementContentAsString();
+						break;
+
+					default:
+						base.ReadElement(reader, instance);
+						break;
+				}
+			}
+
+			/// <summary>
+			/// Override to write attributes to the root element.
+			/// </summary>
+			/// <param name="writer"></param>
+			/// <param name="value"></param>
+			protected override void WriteAttributes(IcdXmlTextWriter writer, TestClass value)
+			{
+				base.WriteAttributes(writer, value);
+
+				writer.WriteAttributeString(ATTRIBUTE_B, value.B.ToString());
+			}
+
+			/// <summary>
+			/// Override to write elements to the writer.
+			/// </summary>
+			/// <param name="writer"></param>
+			/// <param name="value"></param>
+			protected override void WriteElements(IcdXmlTextWriter writer, TestClass value)
+			{
+				base.WriteElements(writer, value);
+
+				writer.WriteElementString(ELEMENT_A, value.A);
+			}
+		}
+
+		[Test]
+		public void TestElement()
+		{
+			const string xml = @"<Instances>
+  <Instance b=""1"">
+    <A>Test</A>
+  </Instance>
+</Instances>";
+
+			using (IcdXmlReader reader = new IcdXmlReader(xml))
+			{
+				// Read into the Instances node
+				reader.Read();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.Element, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instances", reader.Name);
+
+				// Read into the Instance node
+				reader.Read();
+				reader.SkipInsignificantWhitespace();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.Element, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instance", reader.Name);
+
+				// Deserialize
+				TestClass instance = IcdXmlConvert.DeserializeObject<TestClass>(reader);
+
+				Assert.IsNotNull(instance);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Test", instance.A);
+				Assert.AreEqual(1, instance.B);
+
+				// Deserialization should land on the following node
+				reader.SkipInsignificantWhitespace();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.EndElement, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instances", reader.Name);
+			}
+		}
+
+		[Test]
+		public void TestEmptyElement()
+		{
+			const string xml = @"<Instances>
+  <Instance b=""1"" />
+</Instances>";
+
+			using (IcdXmlReader reader = new IcdXmlReader(xml))
+			{
+				// Read into the Instances node
+				reader.Read();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.Element, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instances", reader.Name);
+
+				// Read into the Instance node
+				reader.Read();
+				reader.SkipInsignificantWhitespace();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.Element, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instance", reader.Name);
+
+				// Deserialize
+				TestClass instance = IcdXmlConvert.DeserializeObject<TestClass>(reader);
+
+				Assert.IsNotNull(instance);
+				Assert.IsNull(instance.A);
+				Assert.AreEqual(1, instance.B);
+
+				// Deserialization should land on the following node
+				reader.SkipInsignificantWhitespace();
+				Assert.AreEqual(XmlNodeType.EndElement, reader.NodeType);
+				Assert.AreEqual("Instances", reader.Name);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
diff --git a/ICD.Common.Utils/Xml/AbstractGenericXmlConverter.cs b/ICD.Common.Utils/Xml/AbstractGenericXmlConverter.cs
index 287ba0f..fe4ba1a 100644
--- a/ICD.Common.Utils/Xml/AbstractGenericXmlConverter.cs
+++ b/ICD.Common.Utils/Xml/AbstractGenericXmlConverter.cs
@@ -111,39 +111,24 @@ namespace ICD.Common.Utils.Xml
 			if (reader.NodeType != XmlNodeType.Element && !reader.ReadToNextElement())
 				throw new FormatException();
 
-			T output = default(T);
-			bool instantiated = false;
+			bool isEmpty = reader.IsEmptyElement;
+			T output = Instantiate();
 
+			// Read the root attributes
+			while (reader.MoveToNextAttribute())
+				ReadAttribute(reader, output);
+
+			// Read out of the root element
+			if (!reader.Read())
+				throw new FormatException();
+
+			// There were no child elements
+			if (isEmpty)
+				return output;
+
+			// Read through child elements
 			while (true)
 			{
-				if (!instantiated)
-				{
-					switch (reader.NodeType)
-					{
-						case XmlNodeType.Element:
-							if (reader.IsEmptyElement)
-								return default(T);
-
-							output = Instantiate();
-							instantiated = true;
-
-							// Read the root attributes
-							while (reader.MoveToNextAttribute())
-								ReadAttribute(reader, output);
-
-							// Read out of the root element
-							if (!reader.Read())
-								throw new FormatException();
-							continue;
-
-						default:
-							// Keep reading until we reach the root element.
-							if (!reader.Read())
-								throw new FormatException();
-							continue;
-					}
-				}
-
 				switch (reader.NodeType)
 				{
 					case XmlNodeType.Element: