diff --git a/R/WorkbookClass.R b/R/WorkbookClass.R
index 7af5faac..a920b5c3 100644
--- a/R/WorkbookClass.R
+++ b/R/WorkbookClass.R
@@ -3961,12 +3961,12 @@ Workbook$methods(
       }
     }
 
-    tableStyles <- getNodes(xml = stylesTxt, tagIn = "<tableStyles")
+    tableStyles <- getChildlessNode(stylesTxt, tag = "tableStyles")
     if (length(tableStyles) > 0) {
-      styles$tableStyles <<- stri_join(tableStyles, ">")
+      styles$tableStyles <<- tableStyles
     }
 
-    extLst <- getNodes(xml = stylesTxt, tagIn = "<extLst>")
+    extLst <- getChildlessNode(stylesTxt, tag = "extLst")
     if (length(extLst) > 0) {
       styles$extLst <<- extLst
     }
diff --git a/R/loadWorkbook.R b/R/loadWorkbook.R
index 9c4f2ba0..691e996c 100644
--- a/R/loadWorkbook.R
+++ b/R/loadWorkbook.R
@@ -223,6 +223,11 @@ loadWorkbook <- function(file, xlsxFile = NULL, isUnzipped = FALSE) {
       wb$workbook$calcPr <- calcPr
     }
 
+    ## additional workbook attributes
+    extLst <- getChildlessNode(xml = workbook, tag = "extLst")
+    if (length(extLst) > 0) {
+      wb$workbook$extLst <- extLst
+    }
 
     workbookPr <- getChildlessNode(xml = workbook, tag = "workbookPr")
     if (length(workbookPr) > 0) {