diff --git a/lib/nokogiri/xml/document.rb b/lib/nokogiri/xml/document.rb
index 2428c9e730..57c6049b72 100644
--- a/lib/nokogiri/xml/document.rb
+++ b/lib/nokogiri/xml/document.rb
@@ -87,8 +87,9 @@ def create_element name, *args, &block
               if key =~ NCNAME_RE
                 ns_name = key.split(":", 2)[1]
                 elm.add_namespace_definition ns_name, v
+              else
+                elm[k.to_s] = v.to_s
               end
-              elm[k.to_s] = v.to_s
             }
           else
             elm.content = arg
diff --git a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_builder_doc.rb b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_builder_doc.rb
index cf6ab732b8..038a0bacd1 100644
--- a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_builder_doc.rb
+++ b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_builder_doc.rb
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ def test_builder_buried_default_ns
       def test_builder_buried_decl_ns
         assert_equal 'ns:veg',  check_namespace(@doc.root.elements[3].elements[1])
       end
+      def test_builder_namespace_count
+        n = @doc.root.clone
+        n.children.each &:remove
+        ns_attrs = n.to_xml.scan(/\bxmlns(?::.+?)?=/)
+        assert_equal 3, ns_attrs.length
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_created_doc.rb b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_created_doc.rb
index 7d1ad0de9a..92d0a887e8 100644
--- a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_created_doc.rb
+++ b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_created_doc.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,12 @@ def test_created_buried_default_ns
       def test_created_buried_decl_ns
         assert_equal 'ns:veg',  check_namespace(@doc.root.elements[3].elements[1])
       end
+      def test_created_namespace_count
+        n = @doc.root.clone
+        n.children.each &:remove
+        ns_attrs = n.to_xml.scan(/\bxmlns(?::.+?)?=/)
+        assert_equal 3, ns_attrs.length
+      end
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_parsed_doc.rb b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_parsed_doc.rb
index 01244aef67..b60696b850 100644
--- a/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_parsed_doc.rb
+++ b/test/namespaces/test_namespaces_in_parsed_doc.rb
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ def test_parsed_buried_default_ns
       def test_parsed_buried_decl_ns
         assert_equal 'ns:veg',  check_namespace(@doc.root.elements[3].elements[1])
       end
+      def test_parsed_namespace_count
+        n = @doc.root.clone
+        n.children.each &:remove
+        ns_attrs = n.to_xml.scan(/\bxmlns(?::.+?)?=/)
+        assert_equal 3, ns_attrs.length
+      end
     end
   end
 end