diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 34ad35a8..96008d20 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -94,6 +94,8 @@
 * Added -l option for clixon_backend for directing syslog to stderr or stdout if running in foreground
 
 ### Corrected Bugs
+* Single quotes for XML attributes https://github.com/clicon/clixon/issues/51
+  * Thanks @SCadilhac
 * Fixed https://github.com/clicon/clixon/issues/46 Issue with empty values in leaf-list
   * Thanks achernavin22 
 * Identity without any identityref:s caused SEGV
diff --git a/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.l b/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.l
index 57000d0e..c475417c 100644
--- a/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.l
+++ b/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.l
@@ -89,17 +89,18 @@ int clixon_xml_parsewrap(void)
                             return NAME; /* rather be catch-all */
                           }
 <START>[ \t]+          ;
-<START>\:              return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
+<START>\:               return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
 <START>\n             { _YA->ya_linenum++;}
 <START>"<?xml"        { BEGIN(TEXTDECL); return BTEXT;}
 <START>"/>"           { BEGIN(STATEA); return ESLASH; }
 <START>"<!--"         { BEGIN(CMNT); return BCOMMENT; }
-<START>"</"           return BSLASH;
-<START>[/=]           return *clixon_xml_parsetext; 
-<START>\<             return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
+<START>"</"             return BSLASH;
+<START>[/=]             return *clixon_xml_parsetext; 
+<START>\<               return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
 <START>\>             { BEGIN(STATEA); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
 
-<START>\"             { BEGIN(STR); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<START>\"             { _YA->ya_lex_state=START;BEGIN(STRDQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<START>\'             { _YA->ya_lex_state=START;BEGIN(STRSQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
 <START>.              { clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext; return CHARDATA; /*XXX:optimize*/ }
 
 <STATEA>"</"          { BEGIN(START); return BSLASH; }
@@ -112,36 +113,33 @@ int clixon_xml_parsewrap(void)
 <STATEA>.             { clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext;        return CHARDATA; /*XXX:optimize*/}
 
 	/* @see xml_chardata_encode */
-<AMPERSAND>"amp; "     {BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "&"; return CHARDATA;}
-<AMPERSAND>"lt; "      {BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "<"; return CHARDATA;}
-<AMPERSAND>"gt; "      {BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = ">"; return CHARDATA;}
-<AMPERSAND>"apos; "    {BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "'"; return CHARDATA;}
-<AMPERSAND>"quot; "   {BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "\""; return CHARDATA;}
+<AMPERSAND>"amp; "    { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "&"; return CHARDATA;}
+<AMPERSAND>"lt; "     { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "<"; return CHARDATA;}
+<AMPERSAND>"gt; "     { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = ">"; return CHARDATA;}
+<AMPERSAND>"apos; "   { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "'"; return CHARDATA;}
+<AMPERSAND>"quot; "   { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = "\""; return CHARDATA;}
 
 <CDATA>.              { clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext; return CHARDATA;}
-<CDATA>\n            { clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext;_YA->ya_linenum++; return (CHARDATA);}
+<CDATA>\n             { clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext;_YA->ya_linenum++; return (CHARDATA);}
 <CDATA>"]]>"          { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); clixon_xml_parselval.string = yytext; return CHARDATA;}
 
 <CMNT>"-->"           { BEGIN(START); return ECOMMENT; }
-<CMNT>\n              _YA->ya_linenum++;
+<CMNT>\n                _YA->ya_linenum++;
 <CMNT>.               
-<TEXTDECL>encoding       return ENC;
-<TEXTDECL>version        return VER; 
-<TEXTDECL>"="            return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
-<TEXTDECL>"?>"           { BEGIN(START);return ETEXT;}
-<TEXTDECL>\"             { BEGIN(STRDQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
-<TEXTDECL>\'             { BEGIN(STRSQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<TEXTDECL>encoding      return ENC;
+<TEXTDECL>version       return VER; 
+<TEXTDECL>"="           return *clixon_xml_parsetext;
+<TEXTDECL>"?>"        { BEGIN(START);return ETEXT;}
+<TEXTDECL>\"          { _YA->ya_lex_state =TEXTDECL;BEGIN(STRDQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<TEXTDECL>\'          { _YA->ya_lex_state =TEXTDECL;BEGIN(STRSQ); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
 
-<STR>[^\"]+           { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext); return CHARDATA; }
-<STR>\"               { BEGIN(START); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<STRDQ>1\.[0-9]+      { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);  return CHARDATA; }
+<STRDQ>[^\"]+         { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);  return CHARDATA; }
+<STRDQ>\"             { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
 
-<STRDQ>1\.[0-9]+       { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);  return CHARDATA; }
-<STRDQ>[^\"]+          { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);  return CHARDATA; }
-<STRDQ>\"              { BEGIN(TEXTDECL); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
-
-<STRSQ>1\.[0-9]+       { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);   return CHARDATA; }
-<STRSQ>[^\']+          { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);   return CHARDATA; }
-<STRSQ>\'              { BEGIN(TEXTDECL); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
+<STRSQ>1\.[0-9]+      { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);   return CHARDATA; }
+<STRSQ>[^\']+         { clixon_xml_parselval.string = strdup(yytext);   return CHARDATA; }
+<STRSQ>\'             { BEGIN(_YA->ya_lex_state); return *clixon_xml_parsetext; }
 
 %%
 
diff --git a/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.y b/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.y
index 8a80ff8d..ef9f78a9 100644
--- a/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.y
+++ b/lib/src/clixon_xml_parse.y
@@ -401,6 +401,8 @@ attr        : NAME '=' attvalue          { if (xml_parse_attr(_YA, NULL, $1, $3)
 
 attvalue    : '\"' CHARDATA '\"'   { $$=$2; /* $2 must be consumed */}
             | '\"'  '\"'       { $$=strdup(""); /* $2 must be consumed */}
+            | '\'' CHARDATA '\''   { $$=$2; /* $2 must be consumed */}
+            | '\''  '\''       { $$=strdup(""); /* $2 must be consumed */}
             ;
 
 %%
diff --git a/test/test_netconf.sh b/test/test_netconf.sh
index 9f689dab..a4009b4c 100755
--- a/test/test_netconf.sh
+++ b/test/test_netconf.sh
@@ -100,8 +100,11 @@ fi
 new "netconf hello"
 expecteof "$clixon_netconf -f $cfg -y $fyang" 0 '<rpc message-id="101"><get-config><source><candidate/></source></get-config></rpc>]]>]]>' '^<hello xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0"><capabilities><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:base:1.1</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:yang-library:1.0?revision="2016-06-21"&amp; module-set-id=42</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:candidate:1:0</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:validate:1.1</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:startup:1.0</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:xpath:1.0</capability><capability>urn:ietf:params:netconf:capability:notification:1.0</capability></capabilities><session-id>[0-9]*</session-id></hello>]]>]]><rpc-reply message-id="101"><data/></rpc-reply>]]>]]>$'
 
-new "netconf get-config"
-expecteof "$clixon_netconf -qf $cfg -y $fyang" 0 '<rpc message-id="101"><get-config><source><candidate/></source></get-config></rpc>]]>]]>' '^<rpc-reply message-id="101"><data/></rpc-reply>]]>]]>$'
+new "netconf get-config double quotes"
+expecteof "$clixon_netconf -qf $cfg -y $fyang" 0 '<rpc message-id="101" xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0"><get-config><source><candidate/></source></get-config></rpc>]]>]]>' '^<rpc-reply message-id="101" xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0"><data/></rpc-reply>]]>]]>$'
+
+new "netconf get-config single quotes"
+expecteof "$clixon_netconf -qf $cfg -y $fyang" 0 "<rpc message-id='101' xmlns='urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0'><get-config><source><candidate/></source></get-config></rpc>]]>]]>" '^<rpc-reply message-id="101" xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0"><data/></rpc-reply>]]>]]>$'
 
 new "Add subtree eth/0/0 using none which should not change anything"
 expecteof "$clixon_netconf -qf $cfg -y $fyang" 0 "<rpc><edit-config><default-operation>none</default-operation><target><candidate/></target><config><interfaces><interface><name>eth/0/0</name></interface></interfaces></config></edit-config></rpc>]]>]]>" "^<rpc-reply><ok/></rpc-reply>]]>]]>$"
diff --git a/test/test_xml.sh b/test/test_xml.sh
index 9550c402..d3a978ce 100755
--- a/test/test_xml.sh
+++ b/test/test_xml.sh
@@ -43,5 +43,11 @@ EOF
 new "xml optional encode single and double quote"
 expecteof "$PROG" 0 "$XML" "^<message>To allow attribute values to contain both single and double quotes, the apostrophe or single-quote character ' may be represented as ' and the double-quote character as \"</message>$"
 
+new "Double quotes for attributes"
+expecteof "$PROG" 0 '<x a="t"/>' '^<x a="t"/>$'
+
+new "Single quotes for attributes (returns double quotes but at least parses right)"
+expecteof "$PROG" 0 "<x a='t'/>" '^<x a="t"/>$'
+
 rm -rf $dir