diff --git a/phpcs.xml b/phpcs.xml
index 82471a2e1..468182e25 100644
--- a/phpcs.xml
+++ b/phpcs.xml
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/saml/AuthnContextTest.php</exclude-pattern>
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/saml/IssuerXMLShowAllTest.php</exclude-pattern>
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/saml/NameIDTest.php</exclude-pattern>
+        <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContextTest.php</exclude-pattern>
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/samlp/StatusDetailTest.php</exclude-pattern>
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/XML/shibmd/KeyAuthorityTest.php</exclude-pattern>
         <exclude-pattern>tests/SAML2/Assertion/Validation/ConstraintValidator/SubjectConfirmationResponseToMatchesTest.php</exclude-pattern>
diff --git a/src/SAML2/AuthnRequest.php b/src/SAML2/AuthnRequest.php
index 44a6702ce..a3b23d9d5 100644
--- a/src/SAML2/AuthnRequest.php
+++ b/src/SAML2/AuthnRequest.php
@@ -18,6 +18,7 @@
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\IDPEntry;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\IDPList;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\NameIDPolicy;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequesterID;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\Scoping;
 use SimpleSAML\XML\Exception\MissingElementException;
@@ -105,13 +106,9 @@ class AuthnRequest extends Request
     /**
      * What authentication context was requested.
      *
-     * Array with the following elements.
-     * - AuthnContextClassRef (required)
-     * - Comparison (optional)
-     *
-     * @var array
+     * @var \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext|null
      */
-    private array $requestedAuthnContext = [];
+    private ?RequestedAuthnContext $requestedAuthnContext = null;
 
     /**
      * Audiences to send in the request.
@@ -178,7 +175,9 @@ public function __construct(DOMElement $xml = null)
         $nameIdPolicy = NameIDPolicy::getChildrenOfClass($xml);
         $this->nameIdPolicy = array_pop($nameIdPolicy);
 
-        $this->parseRequestedAuthnContext($xml);
+        $requestedAuthnContext = RequestedAuthnContext::getChildrenOfClass($xml);
+        $this->requestedAuthnContext = array_pop($requestedAuthnContext);
+
         $this->parseConditions($xml);
 
         $scoping = Scoping::getChildrenOfClass($xml);
@@ -233,42 +232,6 @@ private function parseSubject(DOMElement $xml): void
     }
 
 
-    /**
-     * @param \DOMElement $xml
-     * @return void
-     */
-    protected function parseRequestedAuthnContext(DOMElement $xml): void
-    {
-        $xpCache = XPath::getXPath($xml);
-
-        /** @var \DOMElement[] $requestedAuthnContext */
-        $requestedAuthnContext = XPath::xpQuery($xml, './saml_protocol:RequestedAuthnContext', $xpCache);
-        if (empty($requestedAuthnContext)) {
-            return;
-        }
-
-        $requestedAuthnContext = $requestedAuthnContext[0];
-
-        $rac = [
-            'AuthnContextClassRef' => [],
-            'Comparison'           => Constants::COMPARISON_EXACT,
-        ];
-
-        $xpCache = XPath::getXPath($requestedAuthnContext);
-        /** @var \DOMElement[] $accr */
-        $accr = XPath::xpQuery($requestedAuthnContext, './saml_assertion:AuthnContextClassRef', $xpCache);
-        foreach ($accr as $i) {
-            $rac['AuthnContextClassRef'][] = trim($i->textContent);
-        }
-
-        if ($requestedAuthnContext->hasAttribute('Comparison')) {
-            $rac['Comparison'] = $requestedAuthnContext->getAttribute('Comparison');
-        }
-
-        $this->requestedAuthnContext = $rac;
-    }
-
-
     /**
      * @param \DOMElement $xml
      * @return void
@@ -532,9 +495,9 @@ public function setAssertionConsumerServiceIndex(int $assertionConsumerServiceIn
     /**
      * Retrieve the RequestedAuthnContext.
      *
-     * @return array|null The RequestedAuthnContext.
+     * @return \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext|null The RequestedAuthnContext.
      */
-    public function getRequestedAuthnContext(): ?array
+    public function getRequestedAuthnContext(): ?RequestedAuthnContext
     {
         return $this->requestedAuthnContext;
     }
@@ -543,10 +506,10 @@ public function getRequestedAuthnContext(): ?array
     /**
      * Set the RequestedAuthnContext.
      *
-     * @param array|null $requestedAuthnContext The RequestedAuthnContext.
+     * @param \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext|null $requestedAuthnContext The RequestedAuthnContext.
      * @return void
      */
-    public function setRequestedAuthnContext(array $requestedAuthnContext = null): void
+    public function setRequestedAuthnContext(?RequestedAuthnContext $requestedAuthnContext = null): void
     {
         $this->requestedAuthnContext = $requestedAuthnContext;
     }
@@ -709,17 +672,7 @@ public function toUnsignedXML(): DOMElement
 
         $this->addConditions($root);
 
-        $rac = $this->requestedAuthnContext;
-        if (!empty($rac) && !empty($rac['AuthnContextClassRef'])) {
-            $e = $this->document->createElementNS(Constants::NS_SAMLP, 'RequestedAuthnContext');
-            $root->appendChild($e);
-            if (isset($rac['Comparison']) && $rac['Comparison'] !== Constants::COMPARISON_EXACT) {
-                $e->setAttribute('Comparison', $rac['Comparison']);
-            }
-            foreach ($rac['AuthnContextClassRef'] as $accr) {
-                XMLUtils::addString($e, Constants::NS_SAML, 'AuthnContextClassRef', $accr);
-            }
-        }
+        $this->requestedAuthnContext?->toXML($root);
 
         if ($this->scoping !== null) {
             $this->scoping->toXML($root);
diff --git a/src/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContext.php b/src/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContext.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..33740fb2c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContext.php
@@ -0,0 +1,125 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp;
+
+use DOMElement;
+use SimpleSAML\Assert\Assert;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\Utils;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextClassRef;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextDeclRef;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\Constants as C;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\Exception\InvalidDOMElementException;
+
+use function array_merge;
+
+/**
+ * Class representing SAML2 RequestedAuthnContext
+ *
+ * @package simplesamlphp/saml2
+ */
+final class RequestedAuthnContext extends AbstractSamlpElement
+{
+    /**
+     * Initialize a RequestedAuthnContext.
+     *
+     * @param (
+     *    \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextClassRef|
+     *    \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextDeclRef
+     * )[] $requestedAuthnContexts
+     * @param string $Comparison
+     */
+    public function __construct(
+        protected array $requestedAuthnContexts = [],
+        protected ?string $Comparison = null,
+    ) {
+        Assert::maxCount($requestedAuthnContexts, C::UNBOUNDED_LIMIT);
+        Assert::minCount($requestedAuthnContexts, 1);
+        Assert::allIsInstanceOfAny($requestedAuthnContexts, [AuthnContextClassRef::class, AuthnContextDeclRef::class]);
+
+        if ($requestedAuthnContexts[0] instanceof AuthnContextClassRef) {
+            Assert::allIsInstanceOf(
+                $requestedAuthnContexts,
+                AuthnContextClassRef::class,
+                'You need either AuthnContextClassRef or AuthnContextDeclRef, not both.',
+            );
+        } else { // Can only be AuthnContextDeclRef
+            Assert::allIsInstanceOf(
+                $requestedAuthnContexts,
+                AuthnContextDeclRef::class,
+                'You need either AuthnContextClassRef or AuthnContextDeclRef, not both.',
+            );
+        }
+        Assert::nullOrOneOf($Comparison, ['exact', 'minimum', 'maximum', 'better']);
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Collect the value of the requestedAuthnContexts-property
+     *
+     * @return (\SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextClassRef|\SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextDeclRef)[]
+     */
+    public function getRequestedAuthnContexts(): array
+    {
+        return $this->requestedAuthnContexts;
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Collect the value of the Comparison-property
+     *
+     * @return string|null
+     */
+    public function getComparison(): ?string
+    {
+        return $this->Comparison;
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Convert XML into a RequestedAuthnContext
+     *
+     * @param \DOMElement $xml The XML element we should load
+     * @return static
+     *
+     * @throws \SimpleSAML\XML\Exception\InvalidDOMElementException
+     *   if the qualified name of the supplied element is wrong
+     */
+    public static function fromXML(DOMElement $xml): static
+    {
+        Assert::same($xml->localName, 'RequestedAuthnContext', InvalidDOMElementException::class);
+        Assert::same($xml->namespaceURI, RequestedAuthnContext::NS, InvalidDOMElementException::class);
+
+        return new static(
+            array_merge(
+                AuthnContextClassRef::getChildrenOfClass($xml),
+                AuthnContextDeclRef::getChildrenOfClass($xml),
+            ),
+            self::getOptionalAttribute($xml, 'Comparison', null),
+        );
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     * Convert this RequestedAuthnContext to XML.
+     *
+     * @param \DOMElement|null $parent The element we should append this RequestedAuthnContext to.
+     * @return \DOMElement
+     */
+    public function toXML(DOMElement $parent = null): DOMElement
+    {
+        /** @psalm-var \DOMDocument $e->ownerDocument */
+        $e = $this->instantiateParentElement($parent);
+
+        foreach ($this->getRequestedAuthnContexts() as $context) {
+            $context->toXML($e);
+        }
+
+        if ($this->getComparison() !== null) {
+            $e->setAttribute('Comparison', $this->getComparison());
+        }
+
+        return $e;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/SAML2/AuthnRequestTest.php b/tests/SAML2/AuthnRequestTest.php
index aa1832661..906667917 100644
--- a/tests/SAML2/AuthnRequestTest.php
+++ b/tests/SAML2/AuthnRequestTest.php
@@ -11,11 +11,13 @@
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\AuthnRequest;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\Constants as C;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\Audience;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextClassRef;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\Issuer;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\NameID;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\IDPEntry;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\IDPList;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\NameIDPolicy;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequesterID;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\Scoping;
 use SimpleSAML\SAML2\Utils\XPath;
@@ -32,13 +34,15 @@ class AuthnRequestTest extends TestCase
     public function testUnmarshalling(): void
     {
         $authnRequest = new AuthnRequest();
-        $authnRequest->setRequestedAuthnContext([
-            'AuthnContextClassRef' => [
-                'accr1',
-                'accr2',
-            ],
-            'Comparison' => 'better',
-        ]);
+        $authnRequest->setRequestedAuthnContext(
+            new RequestedAuthnContext(
+                [
+                    new AuthnContextClassRef('accr1'),
+                    new AuthnContextClassRef('accr2'),
+                ],
+                'better',
+            ),
+        );
 
         $authnRequestElement = $authnRequest->toUnsignedXML();
 
diff --git a/tests/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContextTest.php b/tests/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContextTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..6c1eef716
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/SAML2/XML/samlp/RequestedAuthnContextTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,133 @@
+<?php
+
+declare(strict_types=1);
+
+namespace SimpleSAML\Test\SAML2\XML\samlp;
+
+use DOMDocument;
+use PHPUnit\Framework\TestCase;
+use SimpleSAML\Assert\AssertionFailedException;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\Constants as C;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextClassRef;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\saml\AuthnContextDeclRef;
+use SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\DOMDocumentFactory;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\TestUtils\SchemaValidationTestTrait;
+use SimpleSAML\XML\TestUtils\SerializableElementTestTrait;
+
+use function dirname;
+use function strval;
+
+/**
+ * Class \SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContextTest
+ *
+ * @covers \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\RequestedAuthnContext
+ * @covers \SimpleSAML\SAML2\XML\samlp\AbstractSamlpElement
+ * @package simplesamlphp/saml2
+ */
+final class RequestedAuthnContextTest extends TestCase
+{
+    use SchemaValidationTestTrait;
+    use SerializableElementTestTrait;
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public static function setUpBeforeClass(): void
+    {
+        self::$schemaFile = dirname(__FILE__, 5) . '/resources/schemas/saml-schema-protocol-2.0.xsd';
+
+        self::$testedClass = RequestedAuthnContext::class;
+
+        self::$xmlRepresentation = DOMDocumentFactory::fromFile(
+            dirname(__FILE__, 4) . '/resources/xml/samlp_RequestedAuthnContext.xml',
+        );
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testMarshalling(): void
+    {
+        $authnContextDeclRef = new AuthnContextDeclRef('https://example.org/relative/path/to/document.xml');
+
+        $requestedAuthnContext = new RequestedAuthnContext([$authnContextDeclRef], 'exact');
+
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            self::$xmlRepresentation->saveXML(self::$xmlRepresentation->documentElement),
+            strval($requestedAuthnContext),
+        );
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testMarshallingWithMixedContextsFails(): void
+    {
+        $authnContextDeclRef = new AuthnContextDeclRef('https://example.org/relative/path/to/document.xml');
+        $authnContextClassRef = new AuthnContextClassRef(C::AC_PASSWORD_PROTECTED_TRANSPORT);
+
+        $this->expectException(AssertionFailedException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('You need either AuthnContextClassRef or AuthnContextDeclRef, not both.');
+
+        new RequestedAuthnContext([$authnContextClassRef, $authnContextDeclRef], 'exact');
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testMarshallingWithInvalidContentFails(): void
+    {
+        $authnContextDeclRef = new AuthnContextDeclRef('https://example.org/relative/path/to/document.xml');
+
+        $this->expectException(AssertionFailedException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage(
+            'Expected an instance of any of "' . AuthnContextClassRef::class . '", "' . AuthnContextDeclRef::class .
+            '". Got: DOMDocument'
+        );
+
+        /** @psalm-suppress InvalidArgument */
+         new RequestedAuthnContext(
+             [
+                 DOMDocumentFactory::fromString('<root />'),
+                 $authnContextDeclRef,
+             ],
+             'exact',
+         );
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testUnmarshalling(): void
+    {
+        $requestedAuthnContext = RequestedAuthnContext::fromXML(self::$xmlRepresentation->documentElement);
+
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            self::$xmlRepresentation->saveXML(self::$xmlRepresentation->documentElement),
+            strval($requestedAuthnContext),
+        );
+    }
+
+
+    /**
+     */
+    public function testUnmarshallingWithMixedContextsFails(): void
+    {
+        $samlNamespace = C::NS_SAML;
+        $samlpNamespace = C::NS_SAMLP;
+
+        $document = DOMDocumentFactory::fromString(<<<XML
+<samlp:RequestedAuthnContext xmlns:samlp="{$samlpNamespace}" Comparison="minimum">
+  <saml:AuthnContextClassRef xmlns:saml="{$samlNamespace}">urn:oasis:names:tc:SAML:2.0:ac:classes:PasswordProtectedTransport</saml:AuthnContextClassRef>
+  <saml:AuthnContextDeclRef xmlns:saml="{$samlNamespace}">https://example.org/relative/path/to/document.xml</saml:AuthnContextDeclRef>
+</samlp:RequestedAuthnContext>
+XML
+        );
+
+        $this->expectException(AssertionFailedException::class);
+        $this->expectExceptionMessage('You need either AuthnContextClassRef or AuthnContextDeclRef, not both.');
+
+        RequestedAuthnContext::fromXML($document->documentElement);
+    }
+}