diff --git a/core/src/avm1/globals/xml.rs b/core/src/avm1/globals/xml.rs
index f9fb91ab4..9bc7f2763 100644
--- a/core/src/avm1/globals/xml.rs
+++ b/core/src/avm1/globals/xml.rs
@@ -8,7 +8,6 @@ use crate::avm1::xml_object::XMLObject;
 use crate::avm1::{Avm1, Error, Object, TObject, UpdateContext, Value};
 use crate::xml::{XMLDocument, XMLNode};
 use gc_arena::MutationContext;
-use std::mem::swap;
 
 /// XMLNode constructor
 pub fn xmlnode_constructor<'gc>(
@@ -25,12 +24,12 @@ pub fn xmlnode_constructor<'gc>(
         this.as_xml_node(),
     ) {
         (Some(Ok(1)), Some(Ok(ref strval)), Some(ref mut this_node)) => {
-            let mut xmlelement = XMLNode::new_text(ac.gc_context, strval, blank_document);
-            swap(&mut xmlelement, this_node);
+            let xmlelement = XMLNode::new_text(ac.gc_context, strval, blank_document);
+            this_node.swap(ac.gc_context, xmlelement);
         }
         (Some(Ok(3)), Some(Ok(ref strval)), Some(ref mut this_node)) => {
-            let mut xmlelement = XMLNode::new_element(ac.gc_context, strval, blank_document)?;
-            swap(&mut xmlelement, this_node);
+            let xmlelement = XMLNode::new_element(ac.gc_context, strval, blank_document)?;
+            this_node.swap(ac.gc_context, xmlelement);
         }
         //Invalid nodetype ID, string value missing, or not an XMLElement
         _ => {}
@@ -155,13 +154,11 @@ pub fn xml_constructor<'gc>(
     ) {
         (Some(Ok(ref string)), Some(ref mut this_node)) => {
             let xmldoc = XMLDocument::from_str(ac.gc_context, string)?;
-
-            swap(&mut xmldoc.as_node(), this_node);
+            this_node.swap(ac.gc_context, xmldoc.as_node());
         }
         (None, Some(ref mut this_node)) => {
             let xmldoc = XMLDocument::new(ac.gc_context);
-
-            swap(&mut xmldoc.as_node(), this_node);
+            this_node.swap(ac.gc_context, xmldoc.as_node());
         }
         //Non-string argument or not an XML document
         _ => {}
@@ -176,7 +173,5 @@ pub fn create_xml_proto<'gc>(
     proto: Object<'gc>,
     _fn_proto: Object<'gc>,
 ) -> Object<'gc> {
-    let xml_proto = XMLObject::empty_node(gc_context, Some(proto));
-
-    xml_proto.into()
+    XMLObject::empty_node(gc_context, Some(proto))
 }
diff --git a/core/src/xml/tree.rs b/core/src/xml/tree.rs
index 1c90eccf9..1815a8dfe 100644
--- a/core/src/xml/tree.rs
+++ b/core/src/xml/tree.rs
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ use quick_xml::events::{BytesStart, BytesText};
 use std::borrow::Cow;
 use std::collections::BTreeMap;
 use std::fmt;
+use std::mem::swap;
 
 /// Represents a node in the XML tree.
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Collect)]
@@ -414,6 +415,20 @@ impl<'gc> XMLNode<'gc> {
 
         object.unwrap()
     }
+
+    /// Swap the contents of this node with another one.
+    ///
+    /// After this function completes, the current `XMLNode` will contain all
+    /// data present in the `other` node, and vice versa. References to the node
+    /// within the tree will *not* be updated.
+    pub fn swap(&mut self, gc_context: MutationContext<'gc, '_>, other: Self) {
+        if !GcCell::ptr_eq(self.0, other.0) {
+            swap(
+                &mut *self.0.write(gc_context),
+                &mut *other.0.write(gc_context),
+            );
+        }
+    }
 }
 
 impl<'gc> fmt::Debug for XMLNode<'gc> {