diff --git a/.gitignore b/.gitignore
index 5877b244e..0176dc830 100644
--- a/.gitignore
+++ b/.gitignore
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ coverage
 ~*
 /.cache
 *.marko.js
+*.marko.xml.js
 /test/generated/
 .nyc_output
 yarn.lock
diff --git a/bin/markoc.js b/bin/markoc.js
index aa767d7b6..91b2e0a65 100644
--- a/bin/markoc.js
+++ b/bin/markoc.js
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@ function relPath(path) {
     }
 }
 
+function shouldIgnoreUnrecognizedTags(path) {
+    return path.endsWith('.xml') || path.endsWith('.xml.marko');
+}
+
 var args = require('argly').createParser({
         '--help': {
             type: 'boolean',
@@ -293,8 +297,6 @@ if (args.clean) {
                         console.log('Deleted: ' + file);
                         context.endAsync();
                     });
-
-
                 }
             }
         },
@@ -318,11 +320,18 @@ if (args.clean) {
             return;
         }
 
-        found[path] = true;
+        if (shouldIgnoreUnrecognizedTags(path)) {
+            compileOptions = compileOptions || {};
+            compileOptions.ignoreUnrecognizedTags = true;
+        }
 
+        found[path] = true;
         var outPath = path + '.js';
+
         console.log('Compiling:\n  Input:  ' + relPath(path) + '\n  Output: ' + relPath(outPath) + '\n');
+
         context.beginAsync();
+
         markoCompiler.compileFile(path, compileOptions, function(err, src) {
             if (err) {
                 failed.push('Failed to compile "' + relPath(path) + '". Error: ' + (err.stack || err));
diff --git a/compiler/CompileContext.js b/compiler/CompileContext.js
index 700484a52..46ec66627 100644
--- a/compiler/CompileContext.js
+++ b/compiler/CompileContext.js
@@ -110,6 +110,7 @@ class CompileContext extends EventEmitter {
         this.compilerType = this.options.compilerType || 'marko';
         this.compilerVersion = this.options.compilerVersion || markoPkgVersion;
         this.writeVersionComment = writeVersionComment !== 'undefined' ? writeVersionComment : true;
+        this.ignoreUnrecognizedTags = this.options.ignoreUnrecognizedTags || false;
 
         this._vars = {};
         this._uniqueVars = new UniqueVars();
@@ -421,9 +422,10 @@ class CompileContext extends EventEmitter {
             if (typeof tagName === 'string') {
                 tagDef = taglibLookup.getTag(tagName);
                 if (!tagDef &&
-                        !this.isMacro(tagName) &&
-                        tagName.indexOf(':') === -1 &&
-                        !htmlElements.isRegisteredElement(tagName, this.dirname)) {
+                    !this.isMacro(tagName) &&
+                    tagName.indexOf(':') === -1 &&
+                    !htmlElements.isRegisteredElement(tagName, this.dirname) &&
+                    !this.ignoreUnrecognizedTags) {
 
                     if (this._parsingFinished) {
                         this.addErrorUnrecognizedTag(tagName, elNode);
diff --git a/compiler/Compiler.js b/compiler/Compiler.js
index cf390cbd4..b2219ad14 100644
--- a/compiler/Compiler.js
+++ b/compiler/Compiler.js
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ class Compiler {
         var ast = this.parser.parse(src, context);
         context._parsingFinished = true;
 
-        if (context.unrecognizedTags) {
+        if (!context.ignoreUnrecognizedTags && context.unrecognizedTags) {
             for(let i=0; i<context.unrecognizedTags.length; i++) {
                 let unrecognizedTag = context.unrecognizedTags[i];
                 // See if the tag is a macro
@@ -167,4 +167,4 @@ class Compiler {
     }
 }
 
-module.exports = Compiler;
\ No newline at end of file
+module.exports = Compiler;
diff --git a/compiler/config.js b/compiler/config.js
index 0d1bec615..751e68064 100644
--- a/compiler/config.js
+++ b/compiler/config.js
@@ -43,7 +43,13 @@ if (g.__MARKO_CONFIG) {
          * Whether the version should be written to the template as a comment e.g.
          * // Compiled using marko@4.0.0 - DO NOT EDIT
          */
-        writeVersionComment: true
+        writeVersionComment: true,
+
+        /**
+         * Whether unrecognized tags should be ignored or not. This flag will
+         * be enabled by default when compiling XML.
+         */
+        ignoreUnrecognizedTags: false
     };
 }
 
diff --git a/test/autotests/api-compiler/configure/test.js b/test/autotests/api-compiler/configure/test.js
index 53a03e63d..0f22571eb 100644
--- a/test/autotests/api-compiler/configure/test.js
+++ b/test/autotests/api-compiler/configure/test.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ exports.check = function(marko, markoCompiler, expect, helpers, done) {
     expect(compiler.config.writeToDisk).to.equal(true);
     expect(compiler.config.preserveWhitespace).to.equal(false);
     expect(compiler.config.writeVersionComment).to.equal(true);
+    expect(compiler.config.ignoreUnrecognizedTags).to.equal(false);
 
     compiler.configure({
         preserveWhitespace: true
diff --git a/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/template.marko.xml b/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/template.marko.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..07fec1f07
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/template.marko.xml
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<urlset></urlset>
diff --git a/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/test.js b/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..322171b4e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/autotests/markoc/single-xml-template/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+var expect = require('chai').expect;
+
+exports.test = function(helpers) {
+    expect(helpers.existsSync('template.marko.xml.js')).to.equal(false);
+    var result = helpers.spawnSync(['template.marko.xml']);
+    expect(helpers.existsSync('template.marko.xml.js')).to.equal(true);
+    expect(result.status).to.equal(0);
+};
diff --git a/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/expected.html b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/expected.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed32e175c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/expected.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<unrecognized></unrecognized>
diff --git a/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/template.marko b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/template.marko
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ed32e175c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/template.marko
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<unrecognized></unrecognized>
diff --git a/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/test.js b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a86ac4591
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/autotests/render/ignore-unrecognized-tag/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+var expect = require('chai').expect;
+
+exports.templateData = {};
+exports.ignoreUnrecognizedTags = true;
diff --git a/test/util/runRenderTest.js b/test/util/runRenderTest.js
index 937de5a0b..3e2b5f6d7 100644
--- a/test/util/runRenderTest.js
+++ b/test/util/runRenderTest.js
@@ -101,6 +101,10 @@ module.exports = function runRenderTest(dir, helpers, done, options) {
         require('marko/compiler').defaultOptions.preserveWhitespace = true;
     }
 
+    if (main.ignoreUnrecognizedTags) {
+        require('marko/compiler').defaultOptions.ignoreUnrecognizedTags = true;
+    }
+
     var oldDone = done;
     done = function(err) {
         require('marko/compiler').configure();
@@ -225,4 +229,4 @@ module.exports = function runRenderTest(dir, helpers, done, options) {
             delete require('marko/compiler').defaultOptions.preserveWhitespace;
         }
     }
-};
\ No newline at end of file
+};