diff --git a/basyx/aas/adapter/xml/xml_deserialization.py b/basyx/aas/adapter/xml/xml_deserialization.py
index e42a9a6f6..f8136a64b 100644
--- a/basyx/aas/adapter/xml/xml_deserialization.py
+++ b/basyx/aas/adapter/xml/xml_deserialization.py
@@ -49,11 +49,12 @@
 import enum
 
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, IO, Iterable, Optional, Set, Tuple, Type, TypeVar
-from .._generic import XML_NS_AAS, MODELLING_KIND_INVERSE, ASSET_KIND_INVERSE, KEY_TYPES_INVERSE, \
+from .._generic import XML_NS_MAP, XML_NS_AAS, MODELLING_KIND_INVERSE, ASSET_KIND_INVERSE, KEY_TYPES_INVERSE, \
     ENTITY_TYPES_INVERSE, IEC61360_DATA_TYPES_INVERSE, IEC61360_LEVEL_TYPES_INVERSE, KEY_TYPES_CLASSES_INVERSE, \
     REFERENCE_TYPES_INVERSE, DIRECTION_INVERSE, STATE_OF_EVENT_INVERSE, QUALIFIER_KIND_INVERSE
 
 NS_AAS = XML_NS_AAS
+REQUIRED_NAMESPACES: Set[str] = {XML_NS_MAP["aas"]}
 
 logger = logging.getLogger(__name__)
 
@@ -97,7 +98,7 @@ def _element_pretty_identifier(element: etree.Element) -> str:
     Returns a pretty element identifier for a given XML element.
 
     If the prefix is known, the namespace in the element tag is replaced by the prefix.
-    If additionally also the sourceline is known, is is added as a suffix to name.
+    If additionally also the sourceline is known, it is added as a suffix to name.
     For example, instead of "{https://admin-shell.io/aas/3/0}assetAdministrationShell" this function would return
     "aas:assetAdministrationShell on line $line", if both, prefix and sourceline, are known.
 
@@ -106,7 +107,11 @@ def _element_pretty_identifier(element: etree.Element) -> str:
     """
     identifier = element.tag
     if element.prefix is not None:
-        identifier = element.prefix + ":" + element.tag.split("}")[1]
+        # Only replace the namespace by the prefix if it matches our known namespaces,
+        # so the replacement by the prefix doesn't mask errors such as incorrect namespaces.
+        namespace, tag = element.tag.split("}", 1)
+        if namespace[1:] in XML_NS_MAP.values():
+            identifier = element.prefix + ":" + tag
     if element.sourceline is not None:
         identifier += f" on line {element.sourceline}"
     return identifier
@@ -1196,13 +1201,22 @@ def _parse_xml_document(file: IO, failsafe: bool = True, **parser_kwargs: Any) -
     parser = etree.XMLParser(remove_blank_text=True, remove_comments=True, **parser_kwargs)
 
     try:
-        return etree.parse(file, parser).getroot()
+        root = etree.parse(file, parser).getroot()
     except etree.XMLSyntaxError as e:
         if failsafe:
             logger.error(e)
             return None
         raise e
 
+    missing_namespaces: Set[str] = REQUIRED_NAMESPACES - set(root.nsmap.values())
+    if missing_namespaces:
+        error_message = f"The following required namespaces are not declared: {' | '.join(missing_namespaces)}" \
+                        + " - Is the input document of an older version?"
+        if not failsafe:
+            raise KeyError(error_message)
+        logger.error(error_message)
+    return root
+
 
 def _select_decoder(failsafe: bool, stripped: bool, decoder: Optional[Type[AASFromXmlDecoder]]) \
         -> Type[AASFromXmlDecoder]: