diff --git a/include/DOM/Simple/DocumentImpl.hpp b/include/DOM/Simple/DocumentImpl.hpp
index ed67dcd3..dc6153ec 100644
--- a/include/DOM/Simple/DocumentImpl.hpp
+++ b/include/DOM/Simple/DocumentImpl.hpp
@@ -15,7 +15,6 @@
 #include <DOM/Simple/NotationImpl.hpp>
 #include <DOM/Simple/ElementByTagImpl.hpp>
 #include <DOM/Simple/NodeImpl.hpp>
-#include <XML/XMLCharacterClasses.hpp>
 
 #include <set>
 #include <list>
@@ -527,28 +526,6 @@ class DocumentImpl : public DOM::Document_impl<stringT, string_adaptorT>,
         throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::HIERARCHY_REQUEST_ERR);
     } // checkChildType
 
-    void checkName(const stringT& str) const
-    {
-      if(string_adaptorT::length(str) == 0)
-	throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
-      typedef typename string_adaptorT::const_iterator const_iterator;
-      const_iterator i = string_adaptorT::begin(str);
-      const_iterator ie = string_adaptorT::end(str);
-      for( ; i != ie; ++i)
-	if(!XML::is_name_char(*i))
-	  throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
-    } // checkName
-
-    void checkChars(const stringT& str) const
-    {
-      typedef typename string_adaptorT::const_iterator const_iterator;
-      const_iterator i = string_adaptorT::begin(str);
-      const_iterator ie = string_adaptorT::end(str);
-      for( ; i != ie; ++i)
-	if(!XML::is_char(*i))
-	  throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
-    } // checkChars
-
   private:
     DOMElement_implT* documentElement_;
     DOMDocumentType_implT* documentType_;
diff --git a/include/DOM/Simple/ElementImpl.hpp b/include/DOM/Simple/ElementImpl.hpp
index 2e58c999..bc722b1b 100644
--- a/include/DOM/Simple/ElementImpl.hpp
+++ b/include/DOM/Simple/ElementImpl.hpp
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ class ElementImpl : public DOM::Element_impl<stringT, string_adaptorT>,
 
     virtual void setAttribute(const stringT& name, const stringT& value)    
     {
+      checkName(name);
       attributes_.setAttribute(name, value);
     } // setAttribute
 
@@ -88,6 +89,7 @@ class ElementImpl : public DOM::Element_impl<stringT, string_adaptorT>,
 
     virtual void setAttributeNS(const stringT& namespaceURI, const stringT& qualifiedName, const stringT& value)    
     {
+      checkName(qualifiedName);
       attributes_.setAttributeNS(namespaceURI, qualifiedName, value);
     } // setAttributeNS
 
diff --git a/include/DOM/Simple/NodeImpl.hpp b/include/DOM/Simple/NodeImpl.hpp
index 136a77c0..c0bc0fc4 100644
--- a/include/DOM/Simple/NodeImpl.hpp
+++ b/include/DOM/Simple/NodeImpl.hpp
@@ -3,12 +3,11 @@
 
 ////////////////////////////
 // C++ DOM definition
-//
-// $Id$
 ////////////////////////////
 
 #include <DOM/Node.hpp>
 #include <DOM/DOMException.hpp>
+#include <XML/XMLCharacterClasses.hpp>
 #include <deque>
 #include <algorithm>
 
@@ -205,6 +204,28 @@ class NodeImpl : virtual public DOM::Node_impl<stringT, string_adaptorT>
     } // throwIfReadOnly
 
   protected:
+    void checkName(const stringT& str) const
+    {
+      if(string_adaptorT::length(str) == 0)
+	throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
+      typedef typename string_adaptorT::const_iterator const_iterator;
+      const_iterator i = string_adaptorT::begin(str);
+      const_iterator ie = string_adaptorT::end(str);
+      for( ; i != ie; ++i)
+	if(!XML::is_name_char(*i))
+	  throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
+    } // checkName
+
+    void checkChars(const stringT& str) const
+    {
+      typedef typename string_adaptorT::const_iterator const_iterator;
+      const_iterator i = string_adaptorT::begin(str);
+      const_iterator ie = string_adaptorT::end(str);
+      for( ; i != ie; ++i)
+	if(!XML::is_char(*i))
+	  throw DOM::DOMException(DOM::DOMException::INVALID_CHARACTER_ERR);
+    } // checkChars
+
     NodeImplT* parentNode_;
     DocumentImplT* ownerDoc_;
     NodeImplT* prevSibling_;