diff --git a/c_src/exml.cpp b/c_src/exml.cpp
index c549615..14b7793 100644
--- a/c_src/exml.cpp
+++ b/c_src/exml.cpp
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ namespace {
 ErlNifResourceType *parser_type;
 
 constexpr int default_parse_flags() {
-  return rapidxml::parse_no_string_terminators;
+  return rapidxml::parse_no_string_terminators | rapidxml::parse_validate_closing_tags;
 }
 
 constexpr int parse_one() {