diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/parsers/StaxXmlParser.scala b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/parsers/StaxXmlParser.scala
index 3b568641..ebb443e3 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/parsers/StaxXmlParser.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/parsers/StaxXmlParser.scala
@@ -112,6 +112,7 @@ private[xml] object StaxXmlParser {
           case _: EndElement if data.isEmpty => null
           case _: EndElement if options.treatEmptyValuesAsNulls => null
           case _: EndElement => data
+          case _ => convertField(parser, dataType, options)
         }
 
       case (c: Characters, ArrayType(st, _)) =>
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/util/InferSchema.scala b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/util/InferSchema.scala
index c7e945ab..4eda10f9 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/util/InferSchema.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/databricks/spark/xml/util/InferSchema.scala
@@ -143,6 +143,7 @@ private[xml] object InferSchema {
           case _: EndElement if data.isEmpty => NullType
           case _: EndElement if options.treatEmptyValuesAsNulls => NullType
           case _: EndElement => StringType
+          case _ => inferField(parser, options)
         }
       case c: Characters if !c.isWhiteSpace =>
         // This means data exists
diff --git a/src/test/resources/null-nested-struct.xml b/src/test/resources/null-nested-struct.xml
index 47e50dca..dc90ea26 100644
--- a/src/test/resources/null-nested-struct.xml
+++ b/src/test/resources/null-nested-struct.xml
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 <root>
 	<item>
 		<b>
+			<!-- nested comments -->
 			<es>
 				<e>1</e>
 			</es>
@@ -10,6 +11,9 @@
 	<item>
         <!-- Issue 117 - This is where an empty Row would be produced instead of null -->
 		<b>
+
+			<!-- nested comments -->
+
 			<es></es>
 		</b>
 	</item>