diff --git a/src/mezz/codec-xml.r b/src/mezz/codec-xml.r
index 251d97e6c6..d9803fc195 100644
--- a/src/mezz/codec-xml.r
+++ b/src/mezz/codec-xml.r
@@ -6,8 +6,8 @@
 REBOL [
 	Title: "A more XML 1.0 compliant set of XML parsing tools."
 	File:  %codec-xml.r
-	Date:  19-Nov-2018
-	Version: 0.8.0
+	Date:  24-Apr-2020
+	Version: 0.8.1
 	Author: ["Gavin F. McKenzie" "Oldes"]
 	Email:  %brianwisti--yahoo--com
 	Purpose: {
@@ -137,6 +137,7 @@ REBOL [
 		   @@TBD: say more here
 	}
 	History: [
+	0.8.1 { Oldes: fixed Prolog parsing in some cases}
 	0.8.0 { Oldes: used original script as a Rebol3 codec}
 	0.7.6 { Version from 1-jul-2009 downloaded from rebol.org}
 	0.7.4 { Fixed a defect to allow optional space around
@@ -374,26 +375,14 @@ register-codec [
 	;
 	block-handler: make xml-parse-handler [
 		xml-doc: copy []
-		xml-block: copy []
+		xml-block: none
 		xml-content: copy ""
 
-		start-document: func [
-		][
+		start-document: does [
 			;
 			; Seed the document
 			;
-			xml-block: reduce copy/deep [
-				'document [
-					version none
-					encoding none 
-					standalone none
-					doctype none
-					pubid none
-					sysid none
-					subset none
-				]
-				none
-			]
+			xml-block: reduce ['document copy #() none]
 		]
 		xml-decl: func [
 			version-info [string! none!] 
@@ -821,15 +810,12 @@ register-codec [
 								any xmlMisc
 								opt [xmlDocTypeDecl any xmlMisc]
 							]
-		xmlDocTypeDecl:     [   "<!DOCTYPE" 
-								xmlS
+		xmlDocTypeDecl:     [   (public-id: system-id: internal-subset: none)
+								"<!DOCTYPE" xmlS
 								copy document-type xmlName
 								opt [xmlS xmlExternalID]
 								any xmlSpace
-								"["
-								copy internal-subset
-								to "]"
-								"]"
+								opt [#"[" copy internal-subset to #"]" 1 skip] ;@@ this can be unsafe!
 								any xmlSpace ">"
 								(handler/document-type
 									document-type
@@ -907,16 +893,14 @@ register-codec [
 									]
 								)
 							]
-		xmlExternalID:      [   ["SYSTEM" xmlSpace xmlSystemLiteral] | 
-								["PUBLIC" xmlSpace xmlPubIDLiteral
-								 xmlSpace xmlSystemLiteral
-								]
+		xmlExternalID:      [   ["SYSTEM" xmlS xmlSystemLiteral] | 
+								["PUBLIC" xmlS xmlPubIDLiteral xmlS xmlSystemLiteral]
 							]
-		xmlSystemLiteral:   [   [#"^"" copy system-id to #"^"" #"^""] | 
-								[#"'" copy system-id to #"'" #"'"]
+		xmlSystemLiteral:   [   [#"^"" copy system-id to #"^"" 1 skip] | 
+								[#"'"  copy system-id to #"'"  1 skip]
 							] 
-		xmlPubIDLiteral:    [   [#"^"" copy public-id to #"^"" #"^""] |
-								[#"'" copy public-id to #"'" #"'"]
+		xmlPubIDLiteral:    [   [#"^"" copy public-id to #"^"" 1 skip] |
+								[#"'"  copy public-id to #"'"  1 skip]
 							] 
 		xmlNDataDecl:       [xmlS "NDATA" xmlS xmlNameProd]
 		xmlCDSect:          [   "<![CDATA[" 
@@ -1008,13 +992,9 @@ register-codec [
 				"apos"      [ return #"'" ]
 			][
 				either (first entity-ref) = #"#" [
-					either (second entity-ref) = #"x" [
-						to char! to integer! to issue! 
-							skip entity-ref 2
-					][
-						to char! to integer!
-							skip entity-ref 1
-					]
+					to char! to integer! either (second entity-ref) = #"x" [
+						to issue! skip entity-ref 2
+					][	skip entity-ref 1 ]
 				][
 					none
 				]
diff --git a/src/tests/units/codecs-test.r3 b/src/tests/units/codecs-test.r3
index 5c458b95cb..800cd6ee9b 100644
--- a/src/tests/units/codecs-test.r3
+++ b/src/tests/units/codecs-test.r3
@@ -227,4 +227,36 @@ if find codecs 'JSON [
 	===end-group===
 ]
 
+if find codecs 'XML [
+	===start-group=== "XML codec"
+	--test-- "XML decode test1"
+		--assert block? data: load %units/files/test1.xml
+		--assert none? data/document/version
+		--assert none? data/document/encoding
+		--assert none? data/document/standalone
+		--assert none? data/document/pubid
+		--assert none? data/document/subset
+		--assert data/document/doctype = "document"
+		--assert data/document/sysid = "subjects.dtd"
+		--assert 1 = length? data/3
+		--assert data/3/1/1 = "document"
+		--assert 17 = length? data/3/1/3
+
+	--test-- "XML decode test2"
+		--assert block? data: load %units/files/test2.xml
+		--assert data/document/version = "1.0"
+		--assert none? data/document/encoding
+		--assert data/document/standalone = "no"
+		--assert data/document/doctype = "HTML"
+		--assert data/document/pubid = "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"
+		--assert data/document/sysid = "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd"
+		--assert none? data/document/subset
+		--assert 1 = length? data/3
+		--assert data/3/1/1 = "HTML"
+		--assert 5 = length? data/3/1/3
+
+
+	===end-group===
+]
+
 ~~~end-file~~~
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/tests/units/files/test1.xml b/src/tests/units/files/test1.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..2d7afbc870
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/units/files/test1.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+<!--inform the XML processor
+  that an external DTD is referenced-->
+<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no" ?>
+
+<!--define the location of the
+  external DTD using a relative URL address-->
+<!DOCTYPE document SYSTEM "subjects.dtd">
+
+<document>
+  <title>Subjects available in Mechanical Engineering.</title>
+  <subjectID>2.303</subjectID>
+    <subjectname>Fluid Mechanics</subjectname>
+    <prerequisite>
+      <subjectID>1.001</subjectID>
+      <subjectname>Mathematics</subjectname>
+    </prerequisite>
+    <classes>4 hours per week (lectures and tutorials) for one
+      semester.</classes>
+    <assessment>tutorial assignments and one 2hr exam at end of
+      course.</assessment>
+    <syllabus>
+      Fluid statics. The Bernoulli equation. Energy equation. Momentum
+      equation. Differential Continuity equation. Differential Energy
+      equation. Differential Momentum equation. Dimensional Analysis.
+      Similitude. Laminar flow. Turbulent flow. Lift and Drag. Boundary
+      layer theory.
+    </syllabus>
+    <textbooks>
+      <author>Foobar</author>
+      <booktitle>The Study of Fluid Mechanics</booktitle>
+    </textbooks>
+</document>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/tests/units/files/test2.xml b/src/tests/units/files/test2.xml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d03b80466a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/tests/units/files/test2.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,13 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no" ?>
+<!DOCTYPE HTML PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0 Transitional//EN"
+  "http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-html40/loose.dtd">
+<HTML>
+<HEAD>
+<TITLE>A typical HTML file</TITLE>
+</HEAD>
+<BODY>
+  This is the typical structure of an HTML file. It follows
+  the notation of the HTML 4.0 specification, including tags
+  that have been deprecated (hence the "transitional" label).
+</BODY>
+</HTML>
\ No newline at end of file