diff --git a/apps/restconf/restconf_methods.c b/apps/restconf/restconf_methods.c
index 2e8c6e47..689d0699 100644
--- a/apps/restconf/restconf_methods.c
+++ b/apps/restconf/restconf_methods.c
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ api_data_write(clicon_handle h,
      */
     if ((xdata0 = xml_new("data0", NULL, NULL)) == NULL)
 	goto done;
-    { /* XXX mv to copy? */
+    if (api_path){ /* XXX mv to copy? */
 	cxobj *xfrom;
 	cxobj *xac;
 	
diff --git a/include/clixon_custom.h b/include/clixon_custom.h
index 2405b8a1..f9a9235d 100644
--- a/include/clixon_custom.h
+++ b/include/clixon_custom.h
@@ -78,10 +78,13 @@
  */
 #define XML_EXPLICIT_INDEX
 
-/*! Treat <config> specially in a xmldb datastore.
- * config is treated as a "neutral" tag that does not have a yang spec.
+/*! Treat <config> and <data> specially in a xmldb datastore.
+ * config/data is treated as a "neutral" tag that does not have a yang spec.
  * In particular when binding xml to yang, if <config> is encountered as top-of-tree, do not
  * try to bind a yang-spec to this symbol.
+ * The root of this is GET and PUT commands where the <config> and <data> tag belongs to the
+ * RPC rather than the data.
+ * This is a hack, there must be a way to make this more generic
  */
 #define XMLDB_CONFIG_HACK
 
diff --git a/lib/src/clixon_xml_io.c b/lib/src/clixon_xml_io.c
index f1c5e024..10b746b5 100644
--- a/lib/src/clixon_xml_io.c
+++ b/lib/src/clixon_xml_io.c
@@ -436,12 +436,14 @@ _xml_parse(const char    *str,
 	    if (ret == 0)
 		failed++;
 	    break;
+
 	case YB_TOP:
 	    /* xt:<top>     nospec
 	     * x:   <a> <-- populate from modules
 	     */
 #ifdef XMLDB_CONFIG_HACK
-	    if (strcmp(xml_name(x),"config") == 0){
+	    if (strcmp(xml_name(x),"config") == 0 ||
+		strcmp(xml_name(x),"data") == 0){
 		/* xt:<top>         nospec
 		 * x:   <config>
 		 *         <a>  <-- populate from modules
diff --git a/util/clixon_util_xml.c b/util/clixon_util_xml.c
index e6241eb8..8a183bea 100644
--- a/util/clixon_util_xml.c
+++ b/util/clixon_util_xml.c
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ main(int    argc,
     char         *top_path = NULL;
     cxobj        *xbot;        /* Place in xtop where base cxobj is parsed */
     cvec         *nsc = NULL; 
+    enum yang_bind yb;
 
     /* In the startup, logs to stderr & debug flag set later */
     clicon_log_init(__FILE__, LOG_INFO, CLICON_LOG_STDERR); 
@@ -291,7 +292,13 @@ main(int    argc,
 	}
     }
     else{ /* XML */
-	if ((ret = xml_parse_file2(fd, (xt==NULL)?YB_TOP:YB_PARENT, yspec, NULL, &xt, &xerr)) < 0){
+	if (!yang_file_dir)
+	    yb = YB_NONE;
+	else if (xt == NULL)
+	    yb = YB_TOP;
+	else
+	    yb = YB_PARENT;
+	if ((ret = xml_parse_file2(fd, yb, yspec, NULL, &xt, &xerr)) < 0){
 	    fprintf(stderr, "xml parse error: %s\n", clicon_err_reason);
 	    goto done;
 	}