diff --git a/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.g b/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.g
index 5e35576cd0..52ace7c307 100644
--- a/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.g
+++ b/src/corelib/serialization/qxmlstream.g
@@ -1301,9 +1301,9 @@ etag ::= LANGLE SLASH qname space_opt RANGLE;
             Tag tag = tagStack_pop();
 
             namespaceUri = tag.namespaceDeclaration.namespaceUri;
+            prefix = tag.namespaceDeclaration.prefix;
             name = tag.name;
             qualifiedName = tag.qualifiedName;
-            prefix = tag.namespaceDeclaration.prefix;
             if (qualifiedName != symName(3))
                 raiseWellFormedError(QXmlStream::tr("Opening and ending tag mismatch."));
         } break;