diff --git a/lib/her/model/parse.rb b/lib/her/model/parse.rb
index 64554277..e8744e05 100644
--- a/lib/her/model/parse.rb
+++ b/lib/her/model/parse.rb
@@ -145,7 +145,8 @@ def root_element(value = nil)
 
         # @private
         def root_element_included?(data)
-          data.keys.to_s.include? @_her_root_element.to_s
+          element = data[root_element]
+          element.is_a?(Hash) || element.is_a?(Array)
         end
 
         # @private
diff --git a/spec/model/parse_spec.rb b/spec/model/parse_spec.rb
index 8495f23c..ccb95fcc 100644
--- a/spec/model/parse_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/model/parse_spec.rb
@@ -493,4 +493,25 @@ def name
       expect(user.to_params).to eq(model: { name: 'foo' })
     end
   end
+
+  context "when attribute uses the same name as root element" do
+    before do
+      Her::API.setup url: "https://api.example.com" do |builder|
+        builder.use Her::Middleware::FirstLevelParseJSON
+        builder.use Faraday::Request::UrlEncoded
+      end
+
+      Her::API.default_api.connection.adapter :test do |stub|
+        stub.post("/users") { |env| [200, {}, { user: "foobar", id: 1, fullname: params(env)[:fullname] }.to_json] }
+      end
+
+      spawn_model "Foo::User"
+    end
+
+    it "parses as attribute instead of root element" do
+      user = Foo::User.create(fullname: "barfoo")
+      expect(user.fullname).to eq "barfoo"
+      expect(user.user).to eq "foobar"
+    end
+  end
 end