diff --git a/generator/Makefile.am b/generator/Makefile.am
index ca061f05d..93bb48465 100644
--- a/generator/Makefile.am
+++ b/generator/Makefile.am
@@ -61,7 +61,8 @@ sources = 				\
 	StructGen.cs			\
 	SymbolTable.cs			\
 	VirtualMethod.cs		\
-	VMSignature.cs
+	VMSignature.cs			\
+	XmlElementExtensions.cs
 
 build_sources = $(addprefix $(srcdir)/, $(sources))
 dist_sources = $(sources)
diff --git a/generator/XmlElementExtensions.cs b/generator/XmlElementExtensions.cs
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..4bb4c4c40
--- /dev/null
+++ b/generator/XmlElementExtensions.cs
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+using System;
+using System.Xml;
+
+namespace GtkSharp.Generation
+{
+	public static class XmlElementExtensions
+	{
+		public static bool GetAttributeAsBoolean (this XmlElement elt, string name)
+		{
+			string value = elt.GetAttribute (name);
+
+			if (String.IsNullOrEmpty (value)) {
+				return false;
+			} else {
+				return XmlConvert.ToBoolean (value);
+			}
+		}
+	}
+}
+
diff --git a/generator/generator.csproj b/generator/generator.csproj
index f0b331439..ccf39f985 100644
--- a/generator/generator.csproj
+++ b/generator/generator.csproj
@@ -87,9 +87,14 @@
     <Compile Include="SymbolTable.cs" />
     <Compile Include="VMSignature.cs" />
     <Compile Include="VirtualMethod.cs" />
+    <Compile Include="XmlElementExtensions.cs" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <ItemGroup>
     <None Include="DESIGN" />
   </ItemGroup>
   <Import Project="$(MSBuildBinPath)\Microsoft.CSharp.targets" />
+  <ItemGroup>
+    <Reference Include="System" />
+    <Reference Include="System.Xml" />
+  </ItemGroup>
 </Project>
\ No newline at end of file