diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_imports_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_imports_handler.hpp
index 155cc2d9..3c31e268 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_imports_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_imports_handler.hpp
@@ -47,9 +47,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-	throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:apply-imports element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:apply-imports");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_templates_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_templates_handler.hpp
index 5a7bfb63..a7b94536 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_templates_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_apply_templates_handler.hpp
@@ -83,9 +83,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-	throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:apply-templates element can only contain xsl:sort and xsl:with-param elements.");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:apply-templates");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_call_template_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_call_template_handler.hpp
index 0fb68b66..eae6e039 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_call_template_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_call_template_handler.hpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ public:
        return;
     } // if(localName == "with-param")
   
-    throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:apply-templates can only contain xsl:sort and xsl:with-param elements.");
+    throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:call-template can only contain xsl:sort and xsl:with-param elements.");
   } // startElement
 
   virtual void endElement(const std::string& /* namespaceURI */,
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_choose_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_choose_handler.hpp
index b09e76da..33e47a2b 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_choose_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_choose_handler.hpp
@@ -146,9 +146,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:choose element may not contain text.  Only xsl:when and xsl:otherwise are allowed");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:choose");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_copy_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_copy_handler.hpp
index 92df2846..aae3ed93 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_copy_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_copy_handler.hpp
@@ -67,9 +67,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:copy-of element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:copy-of");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_include_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_include_handler.hpp
index 023f302b..75360def 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_include_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_include_handler.hpp
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include "xslt_constants.hpp"
-#include "xslt_value_validation.hpp"
 
 namespace Arabica
 {
@@ -104,7 +103,7 @@ public:
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
     if(no_content_)
-      throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:include/xsl:import must be empty");
+      verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:include/xsl:import");
     context_->parentHandler().characters(ch);
   } // characters
 
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_item_container_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_item_container_handler.hpp
index 515f2cd1..9e3d1e23 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_item_container_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_item_container_handler.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@
 
 #include "xslt_create_handler.hpp"
 #include "../xslt_text.hpp"
-#include "xslt_value_validation.hpp"
 
 namespace Arabica
 {
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_key_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_key_handler.hpp
index 9c9756d0..71000afd 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_key_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_key_handler.hpp
@@ -49,9 +49,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:key element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:key");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_namespace_alias_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_namespace_alias_handler.hpp
index aec447e1..20d383bb 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_namespace_alias_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_namespace_alias_handler.hpp
@@ -61,9 +61,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:namespace-alias element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:namespace-alias");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_output_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_output_handler.hpp
index e03880b9..7b85f6b8 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_output_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_output_handler.hpp
@@ -1,8 +1,6 @@
 #ifndef ARABICA_XSLT_OUTPUT_HANDLER_HPP
 #define ARABICA_XSLT_OUTPUT_HANDLER_HPP
 
-#include "xslt_value_validation.hpp"
-
 namespace Arabica
 {
 namespace XSLT
@@ -54,9 +52,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:output element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:output");
   } // characters
  
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_sort_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_sort_handler.hpp
index 4dd8a561..bd0b11a6 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_sort_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_sort_handler.hpp
@@ -67,9 +67,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:sort element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:sort");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_of_handler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_of_handler.hpp
index 8399e8b2..5ac6764e 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_of_handler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_of_handler.hpp
@@ -48,9 +48,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); i != e; ++i)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*i))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("xsl:value-of element must be empty");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:value-of");
   } // characters
 
 private:
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp
index 4fab6d2f..2d790a93 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@ std::map<std::string, std::string> gatherAttributes(const std::string& parentEle
   return results;
 } // validateAttributes
 
+void verifyNoCharacterData(const std::string& ch,
+                           const std::string& name)
+{
+  bool ok = true;
+  for(std::string::const_iterator i = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); ok && i != e; ++i)
+    ok = Arabica::XML::is_space(*i);
+
+  if(!ok)
+    throw SAX::SAXException(name + " element can not contain character data.");
+} // verifyNoCharacterContent
+
 } // namespace XSLT
 } // namespace Arabica
 #endif
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_sort.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_sort.hpp
index 7803cddf..89bd64dd 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_sort.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_sort.hpp
@@ -2,7 +2,6 @@
 #define ARABICA_XSLT_SORT_HPP
 
 #include <algorithm>
-#include "handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp"
 
 namespace Arabica
 {
diff --git a/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_stylesheet_compiler.hpp b/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_stylesheet_compiler.hpp
index 4bd4f8c1..b0af28ab 100644
--- a/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_stylesheet_compiler.hpp
+++ b/include/XSLT/impl/xslt_stylesheet_compiler.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 #include "xslt_stylesheet_parser.hpp"
 #include "xslt_compiled_stylesheet.hpp"
 #include "xslt_compilation_context.hpp"
+#include "handler/xslt_value_validation.hpp"
 #include "handler/xslt_template_handler.hpp"
 #include "handler/xslt_include_handler.hpp"
 #include "handler/xslt_output_handler.hpp"
@@ -67,9 +68,7 @@ public:
 
   virtual void characters(const std::string& ch)
   {
-    for(std::string::const_iterator s = ch.begin(), e = ch.end(); s != e; ++s)
-      if(!Arabica::XML::is_space(*s))
-        throw SAX::SAXException("stylesheet element can not contain character data :'" + ch +"'");
+    verifyNoCharacterData(ch, "xsl:stylesheet/xsl:transform");
   } // characters
 
   virtual void endDocument()