diff --git a/frontends/src/tools/xmlui.py b/frontends/src/tools/xmlui.py
index fc3e7f23..5c31d4ec 100644
--- a/frontends/src/tools/xmlui.py
+++ b/frontends/src/tools/xmlui.py
@@ -201,8 +201,21 @@ class XMLUI(object):
         read_only = node.getAttribute(name) or "false"
         return read_only.lower().strip() == "true"
 
+    def _getChildNode(self, node, name):
+        """Return the first child node with the given name
+
+        @param node: Node instance
+        @param name: name of the wanted node
+
+        @return: The found element or None
+        """
+        for child in node.childNodes:
+            if child.nodeName == name:
+                return child
+        return None
+
     def _parseChilds(self, parent, current_node, wanted = ('container',), data = None):
-        """ Recursively parse childNodes of an elemen
+        """Recursively parse childNodes of an elemen
         @param parent: widget container with '_xmluiAppend' method
         @param current_node: element from which childs will be parsed
         @param wanted: list of tag names that can be present in the childs to be SàT XMLUI compliant
@@ -281,15 +294,14 @@ class XMLUI(object):
                 id_ = node.getAttribute("id")
                 name = node.getAttribute("name")
                 type_ = node.getAttribute("type")
-                value = node.getAttribute("value") if node.hasAttribute('value') else u''
+                value_elt = self._getChildNode(node, "value")
+                if value_elt is not None:
+                    value = getText(value_elt)
+                else:
+                    value = node.getAttribute("value") if node.hasAttribute('value') else u''
                 if type_=="empty":
                     ctrl = self.widget_factory.createEmptyWidget(parent)
                 elif type_=="text":
-                    try:
-                        value = node.childNodes[0].wholeText
-                    except IndexError:
-                        # warning (_("text node has no child !"))
-                        pass # FIXME proper warning (this one is not OK with Libervia)
                     ctrl = self.widget_factory.createTextWidget(parent, value)
                 elif type_=="label":
                     ctrl = self.widget_factory.createLabelWidget(parent, value)
diff --git a/src/tools/xml_tools.py b/src/tools/xml_tools.py
index 499cef54..3c4d1115 100644
--- a/src/tools/xml_tools.py
+++ b/src/tools/xml_tools.py
@@ -609,8 +609,10 @@ class TextWidget(Widget):
 
     def __init__(self, xmlui, value, name=None, parent=None):
         super(TextWidget, self).__init__(xmlui, name, parent)
+        value_elt = self.xmlui.doc.createElement('value')
         text = self.xmlui.doc.createTextNode(value)
-        self.elem.appendChild(text)
+        value_elt.appendChild(text)
+        self.elem.appendChild(value_elt)
 
 
 class LabelWidget(Widget):
@@ -675,7 +677,10 @@ class StringWidget(InputWidget):
     def __init__(self, xmlui, value=None, name=None, parent=None, read_only=False):
         super(StringWidget, self).__init__(xmlui, name, parent, read_only=read_only)
         if value:
-            self.elem.setAttribute('value', value)
+            value_elt = self.xmlui.doc.createElement('value')
+            text = self.xmlui.doc.createTextNode(value)
+            value_elt.appendChild(text)
+            self.elem.appendChild(value_elt)
 
 
 class PasswordWidget(StringWidget):