diff --git a/lib/node-xml.js b/lib/node-xml.js
index 180a482..74c3a98 100755
--- a/lib/node-xml.js
+++ b/lib/node-xml.js
@@ -25,6 +25,11 @@ var XMLP = function(strXML) {
     strXML = SAXStrings.replace(strXML, null, null, "\r\n", "\n");
     strXML = SAXStrings.replace(strXML, null, null, "\r", "\n");
 
+    // if encoded as utf-8, the first few bytes are interpreted as a space, so remove it
+    if (strXML.charAt(0) == '') {
+        strXML = strXML.substring(1);
+    }
+
     this.m_xml = strXML;
     this.m_iP = 0;
     this.m_iState = XMLP._STATE_PROLOG;