diff --git a/xml/xml-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/source/xml/XmlAttributeImpl.java b/xml/xml-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/source/xml/XmlAttributeImpl.java
index a6343628cc3d..4b89cf3ed8a9 100644
--- a/xml/xml-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/source/xml/XmlAttributeImpl.java
+++ b/xml/xml-psi-impl/src/com/intellij/psi/impl/source/xml/XmlAttributeImpl.java
@@ -392,7 +392,7 @@ public class XmlAttributeImpl extends XmlElementImpl implements XmlAttribute, Hi
   @Nullable
   public XmlAttributeDescriptor getDescriptor() {
     final PsiElement parentElement = getParent();
-    if (parentElement instanceof XmlDecl) return null;
+    if (parentElement == null) return null; // e.g. XmlDecl or PI
     final XmlTag tag = (XmlTag)parentElement;
     final XmlElementDescriptor descr = tag.getDescriptor();
     if (descr == null) return null;