diff --git a/sources/properties/propertiesinterface.h b/sources/properties/propertiesinterface.h
index 9f4777f47..d37828e0c 100644
--- a/sources/properties/propertiesinterface.h
+++ b/sources/properties/propertiesinterface.h
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ class PropertiesInterface
 	virtual void toSettings	  (QSettings &settings, const QString = QString()) const =0;
 	virtual void fromSettings (const QSettings &settings, const QString = QString()) =0;
 	// Save/load properties to xml element
-	virtual void toXml		  (QDomElement &xml_element) const =0;
-	virtual void fromXml	  (const QDomElement &xml_element) =0;
+    virtual QDomElement toXml		  (QDomDocument &xml_document) const =0;
+    virtual bool fromXml	  (const QDomElement &xml_element) =0;
 };
 
 #endif // PROPERTIESINTERFACE_H
diff --git a/sources/properties/xrefproperties.cpp b/sources/properties/xrefproperties.cpp
index 70de62d06..b5a5395e6 100644
--- a/sources/properties/xrefproperties.cpp
+++ b/sources/properties/xrefproperties.cpp
@@ -93,8 +93,12 @@ void XRefProperties::fromSettings(const QSettings &settings, const QString prefi
  * Save to xml
  * @param xml_element: QDomElement to use for saving
  */
-void XRefProperties::toXml(QDomElement &xml_element) const {
-	xml_element.setAttribute("showpowerctc", m_show_power_ctc? "true" : "false");
+QDomElement XRefProperties::toXml(QDomDocument &xml_document) const {
+
+    QDomElement xml_element = xml_document.createElement("xref");
+    xml_element.setAttribute("type", m_key);
+
+    xml_element.setAttribute("showpowerctc", m_show_power_ctc? "true" : "false");
 	QString display = m_display == Cross? "cross" : "contacts";
 	xml_element.setAttribute("displayhas", display);
 	QString snap = m_snap_to == Bottom? "bottom" : "label";
@@ -114,6 +118,8 @@ void XRefProperties::toXml(QDomElement &xml_element) const {
 	foreach (QString key, m_prefix.keys()) {
 		xml_element.setAttribute(key + "prefix", m_prefix.value(key));
 	}
+
+    return xml_element;
 }
 
 /**
@@ -121,7 +127,7 @@ void XRefProperties::toXml(QDomElement &xml_element) const {
  * Load from xml
  * @param xml_element: QDomElement to use for load
  */
-void XRefProperties::fromXml(const QDomElement &xml_element) {
+bool XRefProperties::fromXml(const QDomElement &xml_element) {
 	m_show_power_ctc = xml_element.attribute("showpowerctc")  == "true";
 	QString display = xml_element.attribute("displayhas", "cross");
 	display == "cross"? m_display = Cross : m_display = Contacts;
@@ -143,6 +149,7 @@ void XRefProperties::fromXml(const QDomElement &xml_element) {
 	foreach (QString key, m_prefix_keys) {
 		m_prefix.insert(key, xml_element.attribute(key + "prefix"));
 	}
+    return true;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/sources/properties/xrefproperties.h b/sources/properties/xrefproperties.h
index b16de6fc7..9a45f2978 100644
--- a/sources/properties/xrefproperties.h
+++ b/sources/properties/xrefproperties.h
@@ -42,8 +42,8 @@ class XRefProperties : public PropertiesInterface
 
 	void toSettings	  (QSettings &settings, const QString = QString()) const override;
 	void fromSettings (const QSettings &settings, const QString = QString()) override;
-	void toXml		  (QDomElement &xml_element) const override;
-	void fromXml	  (const QDomElement &xml_element) override;
+    QDomElement toXml		  (QDomDocument &xml_document) const override;
+    bool fromXml(const QDomElement &xml_element) override;
 
 	static QHash<QString, XRefProperties> defaultProperties();
 
@@ -73,6 +73,8 @@ class XRefProperties : public PropertiesInterface
 	void setOffset(const int offset) {m_offset = offset;}
 	int offset() const				 {return m_offset;}
 
+    void setKey(QString& key) {m_key = key;}
+
 	private:
 	bool m_show_power_ctc;
 	DisplayHas m_display;
@@ -83,6 +85,7 @@ class XRefProperties : public PropertiesInterface
 	QString m_master_label;
 	QString m_slave_label;
 	int     m_offset;
+    QString m_key;
 };
 
 #endif // XREFPROPERTIES_H
diff --git a/sources/qetproject.cpp b/sources/qetproject.cpp
index 16be9c94d..f6627d6c3 100644
--- a/sources/qetproject.cpp
+++ b/sources/qetproject.cpp
@@ -1582,11 +1582,10 @@ void QETProject::writeDefaultPropertiesXml(QDomElement &xml_element) {
 
 	// export default XRef properties
 	QDomElement xrefs_elmt = xml_document.createElement("xrefs");
-	foreach (QString key, defaultXRefProperties().keys()) {
-		QDomElement xref_elmt = xml_document.createElement("xref");
-		xref_elmt.setAttribute("type", key);
-		defaultXRefProperties()[key].toXml(xref_elmt);
-		xrefs_elmt.appendChild(xref_elmt);
+    foreach (QString key, defaultXRefProperties().keys()) {
+        defaultXRefProperties()[key].setKey(key);
+        QDomElement xref_elmt = defaultXRefProperties()[key].toXml(xml_document);
+        xrefs_elmt.appendChild(xref_elmt);
 	}
 	xml_element.appendChild(xrefs_elmt);