diff --git a/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmldoc.c b/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmldoc.c
index 7cc6cd53201..aadf0882183 100644
--- a/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmldoc.c
+++ b/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmldoc.c
@@ -141,6 +141,13 @@ static void test_xmldoc(void)
     ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
     ok(element != NULL, "Expected non-NULL element\n");
 
+    /* ::root() returns new instance each time */
+    hr = IXMLDocument_get_root(doc, &child);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(child != NULL, "Expected non-NULL element\n");
+    ok(child != element, "Expected new element instance\n");
+    IXMLElement_Release(child);
+
     hr = IXMLElement_get_type(element, &type);
     ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
     ok(type == XMLELEMTYPE_ELEMENT, "Expected XMLELEMTYPE_ELEMENT, got %d\n", type);
diff --git a/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmlelem.c b/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmlelem.c
index 1738b2ce50b..38b621f781e 100644
--- a/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmlelem.c
+++ b/dlls/msxml3/tests/xmlelem.c
@@ -53,11 +53,7 @@ static void test_xmlelem(void)
 
     hr = CoCreateInstance(&CLSID_XMLDocument, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
                           &IID_IXMLDocument, (LPVOID*)&doc);
-    if (FAILED(hr))
-    {
-        skip("Failed to create XMLDocument instance\n");
-        return;
-    }
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got 0x%08x\n", hr);
 
     V_VT(&vType) = VT_I4;
     V_I4(&vType) = XMLELEMTYPE_ELEMENT;
@@ -265,11 +261,7 @@ static void test_xmlelem_collection(void)
 
     hr = CoCreateInstance(&CLSID_XMLDocument, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
                           &IID_IXMLDocument, (LPVOID*)&doc);
-    if (FAILED(hr))
-    {
-        skip("Failed to create XMLDocument instance\n");
-        return;
-    }
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got 0x%08x\n", hr);
 
     create_xml_file(szBankXML);
     GetFullPathNameA(szBankXML, MAX_PATH, pathA, NULL);
@@ -438,6 +430,123 @@ cleanup:
     DeleteFileA("bank.xml");
 }
 
+static void test_xmlelem_children(void)
+{
+    IXMLDocument *doc = NULL;
+    IXMLElement *element = NULL, *child = NULL, *child2 = NULL;
+    IXMLElementCollection *collection = NULL;
+    VARIANT vType, vName, vIndex;
+    LONG length;
+    HRESULT hr;
+
+    hr = CoCreateInstance(&CLSID_XMLDocument, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
+                          &IID_IXMLDocument, (LPVOID*)&doc);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+
+    V_VT(&vType) = VT_I4;
+    V_I4(&vType) = XMLELEMTYPE_ELEMENT;
+    V_VT(&vName) = VT_NULL;
+    hr = IXMLDocument_createElement(doc, vType, vName, &element);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(element != NULL, "Expected non-NULL element\n");
+
+    V_VT(&vType) = VT_I4;
+    V_I4(&vType) = XMLELEMTYPE_TEXT;
+    V_VT(&vName) = VT_NULL;
+    hr = IXMLDocument_createElement(doc, vType, vName, &child);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(child != NULL, "Expected non-NULL child\n");
+
+    V_VT(&vType) = VT_I4;
+    V_I4(&vType) = XMLELEMTYPE_TEXT;
+    V_VT(&vName) = VT_NULL;
+    hr = IXMLDocument_createElement(doc, vType, vName, &child2);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(child2 != NULL, "Expected non-NULL child\n");
+
+    hr = IXMLElement_addChild(element, child, 0, -1);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+
+    hr = IXMLElement_get_children(element, &collection);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(collection != NULL, "Expected non-NULL collection\n");
+
+    length = 0;
+    hr = IXMLElementCollection_get_length(collection, &length);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(length == 1, "Expected 1, got %08x\n", length);
+
+    /* remove/add child and check what happens with collection */
+    hr = IXMLElement_removeChild(element, child);
+    todo_wine ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+
+    length = -1;
+    hr = IXMLElementCollection_get_length(collection, &length);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    todo_wine ok(length == 0, "Expected 0, got %08x\n", length);
+    IXMLElementCollection_Release(collection);
+
+    hr = IXMLElement_AddRef(child);
+    ok(hr == 2, "Expected 2, got %08x\n", hr);
+    IXMLElement_Release(child);
+    hr = IXMLElement_addChild(element, child, 0, -1);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    hr = IXMLElement_AddRef(child);
+    ok(hr == 2, "Expected 2, got %08x\n", hr);
+    IXMLElement_Release(child);
+    hr = IXMLElement_addChild(element, child2, 0, -1);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+
+    hr = IXMLElement_get_children(element, &collection);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(collection != NULL, "Expected non-NULL collection\n");
+
+    hr = IXMLElement_AddRef(child);
+    ok(hr == 2, "Expected 2, got %08x\n", hr);
+    IXMLElement_Release(child);
+
+    length = 0;
+    hr = IXMLElementCollection_get_length(collection, &length);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(length == 2, "Expected 2, got %08x\n", length);
+
+    IXMLElement_Release(child2);
+
+    length = 0;
+    hr = IXMLElementCollection_get_length(collection, &length);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(length == 2, "Expected 2, got %08x\n", length);
+
+    V_VT(&vIndex) = VT_I4;
+    V_I4(&vIndex) = 1;
+    hr = IXMLElementCollection_item(collection, vIndex, vName, (IDispatch **)&child2);
+    ok(hr == S_OK, "Expected S_OK, got %08x\n", hr);
+    ok(child2 != NULL, "Expected not NULL child\n");
+
+    IXMLElement_Release(element);
+    IXMLElement_Release(child);
+    IXMLElementCollection_Release(collection);
+    IXMLDocument_Release(doc);
+}
+
+
+static BOOL test_try_xmldoc(void)
+{
+    IXMLDocument *doc = NULL;
+    HRESULT hr;
+
+    hr = CoCreateInstance(&CLSID_XMLDocument, NULL, CLSCTX_INPROC_SERVER,
+                          &IID_IXMLDocument, (LPVOID*)&doc);
+    if (FAILED(hr))
+    {
+        skip("Failed to create XMLDocument instance\n");
+        return FALSE;
+    }
+
+    IXMLDocument_Release(doc);
+    return TRUE;
+}
+
 START_TEST(xmlelem)
 {
     HRESULT hr;
@@ -445,8 +554,15 @@ START_TEST(xmlelem)
     hr = CoInitialize(NULL);
     ok(hr == S_OK, "failed to init com\n");
 
+    if (!test_try_xmldoc())
+    {
+        CoUninitialize();
+        return;
+    }
+
     test_xmlelem();
     test_xmlelem_collection();
+    test_xmlelem_children();
 
     CoUninitialize();
 }
diff --git a/dlls/msxml3/xmldoc.c b/dlls/msxml3/xmldoc.c
index cf39cc5d983..af67d4e048b 100644
--- a/dlls/msxml3/xmldoc.c
+++ b/dlls/msxml3/xmldoc.c
@@ -54,7 +54,6 @@ typedef struct _xmldoc
     HRESULT error;
 
     /* IXMLDocument */
-    IXMLElement *root;
     xmlDocPtr xmldoc;
 
     /* IPersistStream */
@@ -198,17 +197,19 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_Invoke(IXMLDocument *iface, DISPID dispIdMember,
 static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_get_root(IXMLDocument *iface, IXMLElement **p)
 {
     xmldoc *This = impl_from_IXMLDocument(iface);
+    xmlNodePtr root;
 
     TRACE("(%p, %p)\n", iface, p);
 
     if (!p)
         return E_INVALIDARG;
 
-    *p = This->root;
-    if (!*p)
+    *p = NULL;
+
+    if (!(root = xmlDocGetRootElement(This->xmldoc)))
         return E_FAIL;
 
-    return S_OK;
+    return XMLElement_create((IUnknown *)This, root, (LPVOID *)p);
 }
 
 static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_get_fileSize(IXMLDocument *iface, BSTR *p)
@@ -604,7 +605,6 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_IPersistStreamInit_Load(
     IPersistStreamInit *iface, LPSTREAM pStm)
 {
     xmldoc *This = impl_from_IPersistStreamInit(iface);
-    xmlNodePtr xmlnode;
     HRESULT hr;
     HGLOBAL hglobal;
     DWORD read, written, len;
@@ -653,9 +653,7 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_IPersistStreamInit_Load(
         return E_FAIL;
     }
 
-    if (This->root) IXMLElement_Release(This->root);
-    xmlnode = xmlDocGetRootElement(This->xmldoc);
-    return XMLElement_create((IUnknown *)This, xmlnode, (LPVOID *)&This->root);
+    return S_OK;
 }
 
 static HRESULT WINAPI xmldoc_IPersistStreamInit_Save(
@@ -708,7 +706,6 @@ HRESULT XMLDocument_create(IUnknown *pUnkOuter, LPVOID *ppObj)
     doc->lpvtblIPersistStreamInit = &xmldoc_IPersistStreamInit_VTable;
     doc->ref = 1;
     doc->error = S_OK;
-    doc->root = NULL;
     doc->xmldoc = NULL;
     doc->stream = NULL;