diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 48ee9b792..3fe200a2a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](http://semver.org/).
 ## [Unreleased]
 
 ### Added
+- [SIL.Core] Added optional parameter, preserveNamespaces, to XmlUtils.WriteNode
 - [SIL.Core] Added optional parameter, includeSystemLibraries, to AcknowledgementsProvider.CollectAcknowledgements
 - [SIL.Windows.Forms] Added ability to select which SIL logo(s) to use in SILAboutBox.
 - [SIL.Windows.Forms] Added public enum Widgets.SilLogoVariant
diff --git a/SIL.Core.Tests/Xml/XmlUtilsTests.cs b/SIL.Core.Tests/Xml/XmlUtilsTests.cs
index 8cf58f101..1ee82f04e 100644
--- a/SIL.Core.Tests/Xml/XmlUtilsTests.cs
+++ b/SIL.Core.Tests/Xml/XmlUtilsTests.cs
@@ -176,6 +176,62 @@ public void WriteNode_DoesNotIndentChildWhenSuppressed()
 			}
 			Assert.That(output.ToString(), Is.EqualTo(expectedOutput));
 		}
+
+		[Test]
+		public void WriteNode_PreserveNamespacesArePreserved()
+		{
+			string input = @"<text><span class='bold' xml:space='preserve'> </span></text>";
+			string expectedOutput =
+				"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-16\"?>\r\n"
+				+ "<root>\r\n"
+				+ "	<text>\r\n"
+				+ "		<span\r\n"
+				+ "			class=\"bold\"\r\n"
+				+ "			xml:space=\"preserve\"> </span>\r\n"
+				+ "	</text>\r\n"
+				+ "</root>";
+			var output = new StringBuilder();
+			var preserveNamespace = new HashSet<string>();
+			preserveNamespace.Add("xml");
+			using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(output, CanonicalXmlSettings.CreateXmlWriterSettings()))
+			{
+				writer.WriteStartDocument();
+				writer.WriteStartElement("root");
+				XmlUtils.WriteNode(writer, input, new HashSet<string>(), preserveNamespace);
+				writer.WriteEndElement();
+				writer.WriteEndDocument();
+			}
+			Assert.That(output.ToString(), Is.EqualTo(expectedOutput));
+		}
+
+		[Test]
+		public void WriteNode_ProtectsAgainstXmlnsFormatThrashing()
+		{
+			string input = @"<text><span class='bold' xmlns:fw='http://software.sil.org/fieldworks' fw:special='yes' xml:space='preserve'> </span></text>";
+			string expectedOutput =
+				"<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"utf-16\"?>\r\n"
+				+ "<root>\r\n"
+				+ "	<text>\r\n"
+				+ "		<span\r\n"
+				+ "			class=\"bold\"\r\n"
+				+ "			xmlns:fw=\"http://software.sil.org/fieldworks\"\r\n"
+				+ "			fw:special=\"yes\"\r\n"
+				+ "			xml:space=\"preserve\"> </span>\r\n"
+				+ "	</text>\r\n"
+				+ "</root>";
+			var output = new StringBuilder();
+			var preserveNamespace = new HashSet<string>();
+			preserveNamespace.Add("xml");
+			preserveNamespace.Add("xmlns");
+			preserveNamespace.Add("fw");
+			using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(output, CanonicalXmlSettings.CreateXmlWriterSettings()))
+			{
+				writer.WriteStartDocument();
+				writer.WriteStartElement("root");
+				Assert.Throws<ArgumentException>(()=> XmlUtils.WriteNode(writer, input, new HashSet<string>(), preserveNamespace));
+			}
+		}
+
 		/// <summary>
 		/// This verifies that suppressing pretty-printing of children works for spans nested in spans nested in text.
 		/// </summary>
@@ -191,8 +247,10 @@ public void WriteNode_DoesNotIndentChildWhenTwoLevelsSuppressed()
 				+ "				class=\"italic\">bit</span>bt</span></text>\r\n"
 				+ "</root>";
 			var output = new StringBuilder();
-			var suppressIndentingChildren = new HashSet<string>();
-			suppressIndentingChildren.Add("text");
+			var suppressIndentingChildren = new HashSet<string>
+			{
+			   "text"
+			};
 			using (var writer = XmlWriter.Create(output, CanonicalXmlSettings.CreateXmlWriterSettings()))
 			{
 				writer.WriteStartDocument();
diff --git a/SIL.Core/Xml/XmlUtils.cs b/SIL.Core/Xml/XmlUtils.cs
index 5f5bbe362..8f0987431 100644
--- a/SIL.Core/Xml/XmlUtils.cs
+++ b/SIL.Core/Xml/XmlUtils.cs
@@ -970,10 +970,11 @@ public static string GetTitleOfHtml(XmlDocument dom, string defaultIfMissing)
 		/// <param name="writer"></param>
 		/// <param name="dataToWrite"></param>
 		/// <param name="suppressIndentingChildren"></param>
-		public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, string dataToWrite, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren)
+		/// <param name="preserveNamespaces">a set of namespaces to preserve when writing out elements</param>
+		public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, string dataToWrite, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren, HashSet<string> preserveNamespaces = null)
 		{
 			XElement element = XDocument.Parse(dataToWrite).Root;
-			WriteNode(writer, element, suppressIndentingChildren);
+			WriteNode(writer, element, suppressIndentingChildren, preserveNamespaces);
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -984,11 +985,12 @@ public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, string dataToWrite, HashSet<strin
 		/// <param name="writer"></param>
 		/// <param name="dataToWrite"></param>
 		/// <param name="suppressIndentingChildren"></param>
-		public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, XElement dataToWrite, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren)
+		/// <param name="preserveNamespaces">a set of namespaces to preserve when writing out elements</param>
+		public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, XElement dataToWrite, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren, HashSet<string> preserveNamespaces = null)
 		{
 			if (dataToWrite == null)
 				return;
-			WriteElementTo(writer, dataToWrite, suppressIndentingChildren);
+			WriteElementTo(writer, dataToWrite, suppressIndentingChildren, preserveNamespaces);
 		}
 
 		/// <summary>
@@ -997,11 +999,33 @@ public static void WriteNode(XmlWriter writer, XElement dataToWrite, HashSet<str
 		/// <param name="writer"></param>
 		/// <param name="element"></param>
 		/// <param name="suppressIndentingChildren"></param>
-		private static void WriteElementTo(XmlWriter writer, XElement element, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren)
+		/// <param name="preserveNamespaces">a set of namespaces to preserve when writing out elements</param>
+		private static void WriteElementTo(XmlWriter writer, XElement element, HashSet<string> suppressIndentingChildren, HashSet<string> preserveNamespaces = null)
 		{
 			writer.WriteStartElement(element.Name.LocalName);
 			foreach (var attr in element.Attributes())
-				writer.WriteAttributeString(attr.Name.LocalName, attr.Value);
+			{
+				// if we are preserving namespaces, we may need to write the attribute with the prefix
+				if (preserveNamespaces != null && !string.IsNullOrEmpty(attr.Name.NamespaceName))
+				{
+					var attrPrefix = element.GetPrefixOfNamespace(attr.Name.NamespaceName);
+					if (preserveNamespaces.Contains(attrPrefix))
+					{
+						if (attrPrefix == "xmlns")
+						{
+							// If you need to write out the xmlns attribute consistently between platforms custom code will need to be written
+							// I'm leaving it unimplemented until needed
+							throw new ArgumentException("The 'xmlns' local namespace declarations are handled differently in framework. Using it could cause thrashing.");
+						}
+						writer.WriteAttributeString(attrPrefix, attr.Name.LocalName, attr.Name.NamespaceName, attr.Value);
+					}
+					else
+						writer.WriteAttributeString(attr.Name.LocalName, attr.Value);
+				}
+				else
+					writer.WriteAttributeString(attr.Name.LocalName, attr.Value);
+			}
+
 			// The writer automatically suppresses indenting children for any element that it detects has text children.
 			// However, it won't do this for the first child if that is an element, even if it later encounters text children.
 			// Also, there may be a parent where text including white space is significant, yet it is possible for the
@@ -1018,7 +1042,7 @@ private static void WriteElementTo(XmlWriter writer, XElement element, HashSet<s
 			{
 				var xElement = child as XElement;
 				if (xElement != null)
-					WriteElementTo(writer, xElement, suppressIndentingChildren);
+					WriteElementTo(writer, xElement, suppressIndentingChildren, preserveNamespaces);
 				else
 					child.WriteTo(writer); // defaults are fine for everything else.
 			}