diff --git a/src/Spout/Common/Helper/FileSystemHelper.php b/src/Spout/Common/Helper/FileSystemHelper.php
index 6186822..4d4f0be 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Common/Helper/FileSystemHelper.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Common/Helper/FileSystemHelper.php
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@ class FileSystemHelper
 
         $wasCreationSuccessful = mkdir($folderPath, 0777, true);
         if (!$wasCreationSuccessful) {
-            throw new IOException('Unable to create folder: ' . $folderPath);
+            throw new IOException("Unable to create folder: $folderPath");
         }
 
         return $folderPath;
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class FileSystemHelper
 
         $wasCreationSuccessful = file_put_contents($filePath, $fileContents);
         if ($wasCreationSuccessful === false) {
-            throw new IOException('Unable to create file: ' . $filePath);
+            throw new IOException("Unable to create file: $filePath");
         }
 
         return $filePath;
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ class FileSystemHelper
     {
         $isInBaseFolder = (strpos($operationFolderPath, $this->baseFolderPath) === 0);
         if (!$isInBaseFolder) {
-            throw new IOException('Cannot perform I/O operation outside of the base folder: ' . $this->baseFolderPath);
+            throw new IOException("Cannot perform I/O operation outside of the base folder: {$this->baseFolderPath}");
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/AbstractReader.php b/src/Spout/Reader/AbstractReader.php
index bfbedf8..e55bdec 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/AbstractReader.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/AbstractReader.php
@@ -64,9 +64,9 @@ abstract class AbstractReader implements ReaderInterface
         if (!$this->isPhpStream($filePath)) {
             // we skip the checks if the provided file path points to a PHP stream
             if (!$this->globalFunctionsHelper->file_exists($filePath)) {
-                throw new IOException('Could not open ' . $filePath . ' for reading! File does not exist.');
+                throw new IOException("Could not open $filePath for reading! File does not exist.");
             } else if (!$this->globalFunctionsHelper->is_readable($filePath)) {
-                throw new IOException('Could not open ' . $filePath . ' for reading! File is not readable.');
+                throw new IOException("Could not open $filePath for reading! File is not readable.");
             }
         }
 
@@ -74,7 +74,7 @@ abstract class AbstractReader implements ReaderInterface
             $this->openReader($filePath);
             $this->isStreamOpened = true;
         } catch (\Exception $exception) {
-            throw new IOException('Could not open ' . $filePath . ' for reading! (' . $exception->getMessage() . ')');
+            throw new IOException("Could not open $filePath for reading! ({$exception->getMessage()})");
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/CSV/Reader.php b/src/Spout/Reader/CSV/Reader.php
index 9f9e56f..523eaca 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/CSV/Reader.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/CSV/Reader.php
@@ -64,7 +64,7 @@ class Reader extends AbstractReader
     {
         $this->filePointer = $this->globalFunctionsHelper->fopen($filePath, 'r');
         if (!$this->filePointer) {
-            throw new IOException('Could not open file ' . $filePath . ' for reading.');
+            throw new IOException("Could not open file $filePath for reading.");
         }
 
         $this->sheetIterator = new SheetIterator($this->filePointer, $this->fieldDelimiter, $this->fieldEnclosure, $this->globalFunctionsHelper);
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/Exception/XMLProcessingException.php b/src/Spout/Reader/Exception/XMLProcessingException.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..70f630b
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/Exception/XMLProcessingException.php
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Exception;
+
+/**
+ * Class XMLProcessingException
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Exception
+ */
+class XMLProcessingException extends ReaderException
+{
+}
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElement.php b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElement.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4892aca
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElement.php
@@ -0,0 +1,161 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper;
+
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException;
+
+
+/**
+ * Class SimpleXMLElement
+ * Wrapper around the built-in SimpleXMLElement. This class does not extend \SimpleXMLElement
+ * because it its constructor is final... Instead, it is used as a passthrough.
+ * @see \SimpleXMLElement
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper
+ */
+class SimpleXMLElement
+{
+    use XMLInternalErrorsHelper;
+
+    /** @var \SimpleXMLElement Instance of the wrapped SimpleXMLElement object */
+    protected $simpleXMLElement;
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a new SimpleXMLElement object
+     * @see \SimpleXMLElement::__construct
+     *
+     * @param string $xmlData A well-formed XML string
+     * @throws \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException If the XML string is not well-formed
+     */
+    public function __construct($xmlData)
+    {
+        $this->useXMLInternalErrors();
+
+        try {
+            $this->simpleXMLElement = new \SimpleXMLElement($xmlData);
+        } catch (\Exception $exception) {
+            // if the data is invalid, the constructor will throw an Exception
+            $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSetting();
+            throw new XMLProcessingException($this->getLastXMLErrorMessage());
+        }
+
+        $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSetting();
+
+        return $this->simpleXMLElement;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the attribute for the given name.
+     *
+     * @param string $name Attribute name
+     * @param string|null|void $namespace An optional namespace for the retrieved attributes
+     * @return string|null The attribute value or NULL if attribute not found
+     */
+    public function getAttribute($name, $namespace = null)
+    {
+        $isPrefix = ($namespace !== null);
+        $attributes = $this->simpleXMLElement->attributes($namespace, $isPrefix);
+        $attributeValue = $attributes->{$name};
+
+        return ($attributeValue !== null) ? (string) $attributeValue : null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Creates a prefix/ns context for the next XPath query
+     * @see \SimpleXMLElement::registerXPathNamespace
+     *
+     * @param string $prefix The namespace prefix to use in the XPath query for the namespace given in "namespace".
+     * @param string $namespace The namespace to use for the XPath query. This must match a namespace in
+     *                          use by the XML document or the XPath query using "prefix" will not return any results.
+     * @return bool TRUE on success or FALSE on failure.
+     */
+    public function registerXPathNamespace($prefix, $namespace)
+    {
+        return $this->simpleXMLElement->registerXPathNamespace($prefix, $namespace);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Runs XPath query on XML data
+     * @see \SimpleXMLElement::xpath
+     *
+     * @param string $path An XPath path
+     * @return SimpleXMLElement[]|bool an array of SimpleXMLElement objects or FALSE in case of an error.
+     */
+    public function xpath($path)
+    {
+        $elements = $this->simpleXMLElement->xpath($path);
+
+        if ($elements !== false) {
+            $wrappedElements = [];
+            foreach ($elements as $element) {
+                $wrappedElement = $this->wrapSimpleXMLElement($element);
+
+                if ($wrappedElement !== null) {
+                    $wrappedElements[] = $this->wrapSimpleXMLElement($element);
+                }
+            }
+
+            $elements = $wrappedElements;
+        }
+
+        return $elements;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Wraps the given element into an instance of the wrapper
+     *
+     * @param \SimpleXMLElement $element Element to be wrapped
+     * @return SimpleXMLElement|null The wrapped element or NULL if the given element is invalid
+     */
+    protected function wrapSimpleXMLElement(\SimpleXMLElement $element)
+    {
+        $wrappedElement = null;
+        $elementAsXML = $element->asXML();
+
+        if ($elementAsXML !== false) {
+            $wrappedElement = new SimpleXMLElement($elementAsXML);
+        }
+
+        return $wrappedElement;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Remove all nodes matching the given XPath query.
+     * It does not map to any \SimpleXMLElement function.
+     *
+     * @param string $path An XPath path
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function removeNodesMatchingXPath($path)
+    {
+        $nodesToRemove = $this->simpleXMLElement->xpath($path);
+
+        foreach ($nodesToRemove as $nodeToRemove) {
+            unset($nodeToRemove[0]);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the first child matching the given tag name
+     *
+     * @param string $tagName
+     * @return SimpleXMLElement|null The first child matching the tag name or NULL if none found
+     */
+    public function getFirstChildByTagName($tagName)
+    {
+        $doesElementExist = isset($this->simpleXMLElement->{$tagName});
+
+        /** @var \SimpleXMLElement $realElement */
+        $realElement = $this->simpleXMLElement->{$tagName};
+
+        return $doesElementExist ? $this->wrapSimpleXMLElement($realElement) : null;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return string
+     */
+    public function __toString()
+    {
+        return $this->simpleXMLElement->__toString();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLInternalErrorsHelper.php b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLInternalErrorsHelper.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..8b4464a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLInternalErrorsHelper.php
@@ -0,0 +1,82 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper;
+
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException;
+
+/**
+ * Trait XMLInternalErrorsHelper
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper
+ */
+trait XMLInternalErrorsHelper
+{
+    /** @var bool Stores whether XML errors were initially stored internally - used to reset */
+    protected $initialUseInternalErrorsValue;
+
+    /**
+     * To avoid displaying lots of warning/error messages on screen,
+     * stores errors internally instead.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    protected function useXMLInternalErrors()
+    {
+        libxml_clear_errors();
+        $this->initialUseInternalErrorsValue = libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Throws an XMLProcessingException if an error occured.
+     * It also always resets the "libxml_use_internal_errors" setting back to its initial value.
+     *
+     * @return void
+     * @throws \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException
+     */
+    protected function resetXMLInternalErrorsSettingAndThrowIfXMLErrorOccured()
+    {
+        if ($this->hasXMLErrorOccured()) {
+            $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSetting();
+            throw new XMLProcessingException($this->getLastXMLErrorMessage());
+        }
+
+        $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSetting();
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether the a XML error has occured since the last time errors were cleared.
+     *
+     * @return bool TRUE if an error occured, FALSE otherwise
+     */
+    private function hasXMLErrorOccured()
+    {
+        return (libxml_get_last_error() !== false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns the error message for the last XML error that occured.
+     * @see libxml_get_last_error
+     *
+     * @return String|null Last XML error message or null if no error
+     */
+    private function getLastXMLErrorMessage()
+    {
+        $errorMessage = null;
+        $error = libxml_get_last_error();
+
+        if ($error !== false) {
+            $errorMessage = trim($error->message);
+        }
+
+        return $errorMessage;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return void
+     */
+    protected function resetXMLInternalErrorsSetting()
+    {
+        libxml_use_internal_errors($this->initialUseInternalErrorsValue);
+    }
+
+}
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReader.php b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReader.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..5cc3838
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReader.php
@@ -0,0 +1,123 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper;
+
+
+/**
+ * Class XMLReader
+ * Wrapper around the built-in XMLReader
+ * @see \XMLReader
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper
+ */
+class XMLReader extends \XMLReader
+{
+    use XMLInternalErrorsHelper;
+
+    /**
+     * Set the URI containing the XML to parse
+     * @see \XMLReader::open
+     *
+     * @param string $URI URI pointing to the document
+     * @return bool TRUE on success or FALSE on failure
+     */
+    public function open($URI)
+    {
+        $wasOpenSuccessful = false;
+
+        // HHVM does not check if file exists within zip file
+        // @link https://github.com/facebook/hhvm/issues/5779
+        if ($this->isRunningHHVM() && $this->isZipStream($URI)) {
+            if ($this->fileExistsWithinZip($URI)) {
+                $wasOpenSuccessful = parent::open($URI, null, LIBXML_NONET);
+            }
+        } else {
+            $wasOpenSuccessful = parent::open($URI, null, LIBXML_NONET);
+        }
+
+        return $wasOpenSuccessful;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether the given URI is a zip stream.
+     *
+     * @param string $URI URI pointing to a document
+     * @return bool TRUE if URI is a zip stream, FALSE otherwise
+     */
+    protected function isZipStream($URI)
+    {
+        return (strpos($URI, 'zip://') === 0);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether the current environment is HHVM
+     *
+     * @return bool TRUE if running on HHVM, FALSE otherwise
+     */
+    protected function isRunningHHVM()
+    {
+        return defined('HHVM_VERSION');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Returns whether the file at the given location exists
+     *
+     * @param string $zipStreamURI URI of a zip stream, e.g. "zip://file.zip#path/inside.xml"
+     * @return bool TRUE if the file exists, FALSE otherwise
+     */
+    protected function fileExistsWithinZip($zipStreamURI)
+    {
+        $doesFileExists = false;
+
+        $pattern = '/zip:\/\/([^#]+)#(.*)/';
+        if (preg_match($pattern, $zipStreamURI, $matches)) {
+            $zipFilePath = $matches[1];
+            $innerFilePath = $matches[2];
+
+            $zip = new \ZipArchive();
+            if ($zip->open($zipFilePath) === true) {
+                $doesFileExists = ($zip->locateName($innerFilePath) !== false);
+                $zip->close();
+            }
+        }
+
+        return $doesFileExists;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Move to next node in document
+     * @see \XMLReader::read
+     *
+     * @return bool TRUE on success or FALSE on failure
+     * @throws \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException If an error/warning occurred
+     */
+    public function read()
+    {
+        $this->useXMLInternalErrors();
+
+        $wasReadSuccessful = parent::read();
+
+        $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSettingAndThrowIfXMLErrorOccured();
+
+        return $wasReadSuccessful;
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Move cursor to next node skipping all subtrees
+     * @see \XMLReader::next
+     *
+     * @param string|void $localName The name of the next node to move to
+     * @return bool TRUE on success or FALSE on failure
+     * @throws \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException If an error/warning occurred
+     */
+    public function next($localName = null)
+    {
+        $this->useXMLInternalErrors();
+
+        $wasNextSuccessful = parent::next($localName);
+
+        $this->resetXMLInternalErrorsSettingAndThrowIfXMLErrorOccured();
+
+        return $wasNextSuccessful;
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SharedStringsHelper.php b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SharedStringsHelper.php
index 75f8989..f01150c 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SharedStringsHelper.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SharedStringsHelper.php
@@ -3,6 +3,9 @@
 namespace Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Helper;
 
 use Box\Spout\Common\Exception\IOException;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\XMLReader;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Helper\SharedStringsCaching\CachingStrategyFactory;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Helper\SharedStringsCaching\CachingStrategyInterface;
 
@@ -74,7 +77,7 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
      */
     public function extractSharedStrings()
     {
-        $xmlReader = new \XMLReader();
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
         $sharedStringIndex = 0;
         $escaper = new \Box\Spout\Common\Escaper\XLSX();
 
@@ -83,39 +86,44 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
             throw new IOException('Could not open "' . self::SHARED_STRINGS_XML_FILE_PATH . '".');
         }
 
-        $sharedStringsUniqueCount = $this->getSharedStringsUniqueCount($xmlReader);
-        $this->cachingStrategy = $this->getBestSharedStringsCachingStrategy($sharedStringsUniqueCount);
+        try {
+            $sharedStringsUniqueCount = $this->getSharedStringsUniqueCount($xmlReader);
+            $this->cachingStrategy = $this->getBestSharedStringsCachingStrategy($sharedStringsUniqueCount);
 
-        while ($xmlReader->read() && $xmlReader->name !== 'si') {
-            // do nothing until a 'si' tag is reached
-        }
-
-        while ($xmlReader->name === 'si') {
-            $node = $this->getSimpleXmlElementNodeFromXMLReader($xmlReader);
-            $node->registerXPathNamespace('ns', self::MAIN_NAMESPACE_FOR_SHARED_STRINGS_XML);
-
-            // removes nodes that should not be read, like the pronunciation of the Kanji characters
-            $cleanNode = $this->removeSuperfluousTextNodes($node);
-
-            // find all text nodes 't'; there can be multiple if the cell contains formatting
-            $textNodes = $cleanNode->xpath('//ns:t');
-
-            $textValue = '';
-            foreach ($textNodes as $textNode) {
-                if ($this->shouldPreserveWhitespace($textNode)) {
-                    $textValue .= $textNode->__toString();
-                } else {
-                    $textValue .= trim($textNode->__toString());
-                }
+            while ($xmlReader->read() && $xmlReader->name !== 'si') {
+                // do nothing until a 'si' tag is reached
             }
 
-            $unescapedTextValue = $escaper->unescape($textValue);
-            $this->cachingStrategy->addStringForIndex($unescapedTextValue, $sharedStringIndex);
+            while ($xmlReader->name === 'si') {
+                $node = $this->getSimpleXmlElementNodeFromXMLReader($xmlReader);
+                $node->registerXPathNamespace('ns', self::MAIN_NAMESPACE_FOR_SHARED_STRINGS_XML);
 
-            $sharedStringIndex++;
+                // removes nodes that should not be read, like the pronunciation of the Kanji characters
+                $cleanNode = $this->removeSuperfluousTextNodes($node);
 
-            // jump to the next 'si' tag
-            $xmlReader->next('si');
+                // find all text nodes 't'; there can be multiple if the cell contains formatting
+                $textNodes = $cleanNode->xpath('//ns:t');
+
+                $textValue = '';
+                foreach ($textNodes as $textNode) {
+                    if ($this->shouldPreserveWhitespace($textNode)) {
+                        $textValue .= $textNode->__toString();
+                    } else {
+                        $textValue .= trim($textNode->__toString());
+                    }
+                }
+
+                $unescapedTextValue = $escaper->unescape($textValue);
+                $this->cachingStrategy->addStringForIndex($unescapedTextValue, $sharedStringIndex);
+
+                $sharedStringIndex++;
+
+                // jump to the next 'si' tag
+                $xmlReader->next('si');
+            }
+
+        } catch (XMLProcessingException $exception) {
+            throw new IOException("The sharedStrings.xml file is invalid and cannot be read. [{$exception->getMessage()}]");
         }
 
         $this->cachingStrategy->closeCache();
@@ -134,33 +142,19 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
     /**
      * Returns the shared strings unique count, as specified in <sst> tag.
      *
-     * @param \XMLReader $xmlReader XMLReader instance
+     * @param \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\XMLReader $xmlReader XMLReader instance
      * @return int Number of unique shared strings in the sharedStrings.xml file
      * @throws \Box\Spout\Common\Exception\IOException If sharedStrings.xml is invalid and can't be read
      */
     protected function getSharedStringsUniqueCount($xmlReader)
     {
-        // Use internal errors to avoid displaying lots of warning messages in case of invalid file
-        // For instance, if the file is used to perform a "Billion Laughs" or "Quadratic Blowup" attacks
-        libxml_clear_errors();
-        libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
-
         $xmlReader->next('sst');
 
         // Iterate over the "sst" elements to get the actual "sst ELEMENT" (skips any DOCTYPE)
-        while ($xmlReader->name === 'sst' && $xmlReader->nodeType !== \XMLReader::ELEMENT) {
+        while ($xmlReader->name === 'sst' && $xmlReader->nodeType !== XMLReader::ELEMENT) {
             $xmlReader->read();
         }
 
-        $readError = libxml_get_last_error();
-        if ($readError !== false) {
-            $readErrorMessage = trim($readError->message);
-            throw new IOException("The sharedStrings.xml file is invalid and cannot be read. [{$readErrorMessage}]");
-        }
-
-        // reset the setting to display XML warnings/errors
-        libxml_use_internal_errors(false);
-
         return intval($xmlReader->getAttribute('uniqueCount'));
     }
 
@@ -180,29 +174,19 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
      * Returns a SimpleXMLElement node from the current node in the given XMLReader instance.
      * This is to simplify the parsing of the subtree.
      *
-     * @param \XMLReader $xmlReader
-     * @return \SimpleXMLElement
+     * @param \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\XMLReader $xmlReader
+     * @return \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement
      * @throws \Box\Spout\Common\Exception\IOException If the current node cannot be read
      */
     protected function getSimpleXmlElementNodeFromXMLReader($xmlReader)
     {
-        // Use internal errors to avoid displaying lots of warning messages in case of error found in the XML node.
-        // For instance, if the file is used to perform a "Billion Laughs" or "Quadratic Blowup" attacks
-        libxml_clear_errors();
-        libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
-
         $node = null;
         try {
-            $node = new \SimpleXMLElement($xmlReader->readOuterXml());
-        } catch (\Exception $exception) {
-            $error = libxml_get_last_error();
-            libxml_use_internal_errors(false);
-
-            throw new IOException('The sharedStrings.xml file contains unreadable data [' . trim($error->message) . '].');
+            $node = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlReader->readOuterXml());
+        } catch (XMLProcessingException $exception) {
+            throw new IOException("The sharedStrings.xml file contains unreadable data [{$exception->getMessage()}].");
         }
 
-        libxml_use_internal_errors(false);
-
         return $node;
     }
 
@@ -210,8 +194,8 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
      * Removes nodes that should not be read, like the pronunciation of the Kanji characters.
      * By keeping them, their text content would be added to the read string.
      *
-     * @param \SimpleXMLElement $parentNode Parent node that may contain nodes to remove
-     * @return \SimpleXMLElement Cleaned parent node
+     * @param \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement $parentNode Parent node that may contain nodes to remove
+     * @return \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement Cleaned parent node
      */
     protected function removeSuperfluousTextNodes($parentNode)
     {
@@ -221,12 +205,7 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
 
         foreach ($tagsToRemove as $tagToRemove) {
             $xpath = '//ns:' . $tagToRemove;
-            $nodesToRemove = $parentNode->xpath($xpath);
-
-            foreach ($nodesToRemove as $nodeToRemove) {
-                // This is how to remove a node from the XML
-                unset($nodeToRemove[0]);
-            }
+            $parentNode->removeNodesMatchingXPath($xpath);
         }
 
         return $parentNode;
@@ -235,24 +214,13 @@ class SharedStringsHelper
     /**
      * If the text node has the attribute 'xml:space="preserve"', then preserve whitespace.
      *
-     * @param \SimpleXMLElement $textNode The text node element (<t>) whitespace may be preserved
+     * @param \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement $textNode The text node element (<t>) whitespace may be preserved
      * @return bool Whether whitespace should be preserved
      */
     protected function shouldPreserveWhitespace($textNode)
     {
-        $shouldPreserveWhitespace = false;
-
-        $attributes = $textNode->attributes('xml', true);
-        if ($attributes) {
-            foreach ($attributes as $attributeName => $attributeValue) {
-                if ($attributeName === 'space' && $attributeValue->__toString() === 'preserve') {
-                    $shouldPreserveWhitespace = true;
-                    break;
-                }
-            }
-        }
-
-        return $shouldPreserveWhitespace;
+        $spaceValue = $textNode->getAttribute('space', 'xml');
+        return ($spaceValue === 'preserve');
     }
 
     /**
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SheetHelper.php b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SheetHelper.php
index a3431ae..308e94e 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SheetHelper.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Helper/SheetHelper.php
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 
 namespace Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Helper;
 
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Sheet;
 
 /**
@@ -37,10 +38,10 @@ class SheetHelper
     /** @var \Box\Spout\Common\Helper\GlobalFunctionsHelper Helper to work with global functions */
     protected $globalFunctionsHelper;
 
-    /** @var \SimpleXMLElement XML element representing the workbook.xml.rels file */
+    /** @var \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement XML element representing the workbook.xml.rels file */
     protected $workbookXMLRelsAsXMLElement;
 
-    /** @var \SimpleXMLElement XML element representing the workbook.xml file */
+    /** @var \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement XML element representing the workbook.xml file */
     protected $workbookXMLAsXMLElement;
 
     /**
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ class SheetHelper
 
         for ($i = 0; $i < $numSheetNodes; $i++) {
             $sheetNode = $sheetNodes[$i];
-            $sheetDataXMLFilePath = (string) $sheetNode->attributes()->PartName;
+            $sheetDataXMLFilePath = $sheetNode->getAttribute('PartName');
 
             $sheets[] = $this->getSheetFromXML($sheetDataXMLFilePath, $i);
         }
@@ -115,15 +116,15 @@ class SheetHelper
 
         if (count($relationshipNodes) === 1) {
             $relationshipNode = $relationshipNodes[0];
-            $sheetId = (string) $relationshipNode->attributes()->Id;
+            $sheetId = $relationshipNode->getAttribute('Id');
 
             $workbookXMLElement = $this->getWorkbookXMLAsXMLElement();
             $sheetNodes = $workbookXMLElement->xpath('//ns:sheet[@r:id="' . $sheetId . '"]');
 
             if (count($sheetNodes) === 1) {
                 $sheetNode = $sheetNodes[0];
-                $sheetId = (int) $sheetNode->attributes()->sheetId;
-                $escapedSheetName = (string) $sheetNode->attributes()->name;
+                $sheetId = (int) $sheetNode->getAttribute('sheetId');
+                $escapedSheetName = $sheetNode->getAttribute('name');
 
                 $escaper = new \Box\Spout\Common\Escaper\XLSX();
                 $sheetName = $escaper->unescape($escapedSheetName);
@@ -149,7 +150,7 @@ class SheetHelper
      * Returns a representation of the workbook.xml.rels file, ready to be parsed.
      * The returned value is cached.
      *
-     * @return \SimpleXMLElement XML element representating the workbook.xml.rels file
+     * @return \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement XML element representating the workbook.xml.rels file
      */
     protected function getWorkbookXMLRelsAsXMLElement()
     {
@@ -167,7 +168,7 @@ class SheetHelper
      * Returns a representation of the workbook.xml file, ready to be parsed.
      * The returned value is cached.
      *
-     * @return \SimpleXMLElement XML element representating the workbook.xml.rels file
+     * @return \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement XML element representating the workbook.xml.rels file
      */
     protected function getWorkbookXMLAsXMLElement()
     {
@@ -186,13 +187,13 @@ class SheetHelper
      *
      * @param string $xmlFilePath The path of the XML file inside the XLSX file
      * @param string $mainNamespace The main XPath namespace to register
-     * @return \SimpleXMLElement The XML element representing the file
+     * @return \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\SimpleXMLElement The XML element representing the file
      */
     protected function getFileAsXMLElementWithNamespace($xmlFilePath, $mainNamespace)
     {
         $xmlContents = $this->globalFunctionsHelper->file_get_contents('zip://' . $this->filePath . '#' . $xmlFilePath);
 
-        $xmlElement = new \SimpleXMLElement($xmlContents);
+        $xmlElement = new SimpleXMLElement($xmlContents);
         $xmlElement->registerXPathNamespace('ns', $mainNamespace);
 
         return $xmlElement;
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Reader.php b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Reader.php
index f24d185..cf13517 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Reader.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/Reader.php
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ class Reader extends AbstractReader
 
             $this->sheetIterator = new SheetIterator($filePath, $this->sharedStringsHelper, $this->globalFunctionsHelper);
         } else {
-            throw new IOException('Could not open ' . $filePath . ' for reading.');
+            throw new IOException("Could not open $filePath for reading.");
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/RowIterator.php b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/RowIterator.php
index 6fc1dde..0225171 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/RowIterator.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Reader/XLSX/RowIterator.php
@@ -3,7 +3,9 @@
 namespace Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX;
 
 use Box\Spout\Common\Exception\IOException;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\IteratorInterface;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\XMLReader;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\XLSX\Helper\CellHelper;
 
 /**
@@ -45,7 +47,7 @@ class RowIterator implements IteratorInterface
     /** @var Helper\SharedStringsHelper Helper to work with shared strings */
     protected $sharedStringsHelper;
 
-    /** @var \XMLReader The XMLReader object that will help read sheet's XML data */
+    /** @var \Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper\XMLReader The XMLReader object that will help read sheet's XML data */
     protected $xmlReader;
 
     /** @var \Box\Spout\Common\Escaper\XLSX Used to unescape XML data */
@@ -74,7 +76,7 @@ class RowIterator implements IteratorInterface
         $this->sheetDataXMLFilePath = $this->normalizeSheetDataXMLFilePath($sheetDataXMLFilePath);
         $this->sharedStringsHelper = $sharedStringsHelper;
 
-        $this->xmlReader = new \XMLReader();
+        $this->xmlReader = new XMLReader();
         $this->escaper = new \Box\Spout\Common\Escaper\XLSX();
     }
 
@@ -102,8 +104,8 @@ class RowIterator implements IteratorInterface
         $this->xmlReader->close();
 
         $sheetDataFilePath = 'zip://' . $this->filePath . '#' . $this->sheetDataXMLFilePath;
-        if ($this->xmlReader->open($sheetDataFilePath, null, LIBXML_NONET) === false) {
-            throw new IOException('Could not open "' . $this->sheetDataXMLFilePath . '".');
+        if ($this->xmlReader->open($sheetDataFilePath) === false) {
+            throw new IOException("Could not open \"{$this->sheetDataXMLFilePath}\".");
         }
 
         $this->numReadRows = 0;
@@ -138,59 +140,52 @@ class RowIterator implements IteratorInterface
         $isInsideRowTag = false;
         $rowData = [];
 
-        // Use internal errors to avoid displaying lots of warning messages in case of invalid file
-        // For instance on HHVM, XMLReader->open() won't fail when trying to read a unexisting file within a zip...
-        // But the XMLReader->read() will fail!
-        libxml_clear_errors();
-        libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+        try {
+            while ($this->xmlReader->read()) {
+                if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_DIMENSION) {
+                    // Read dimensions of the sheet
+                    $dimensionRef = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_REF); // returns 'A1:M13' for instance (or 'A1' for empty sheet)
+                    if (preg_match('/[A-Z\d]+:([A-Z\d]+)/', $dimensionRef, $matches)) {
+                        $lastCellIndex = $matches[1];
+                        $this->numColumns = CellHelper::getColumnIndexFromCellIndex($lastCellIndex) + 1;
+                    }
 
-        while ($this->xmlReader->read()) {
-            if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == \XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_DIMENSION) {
-                // Read dimensions of the sheet
-                $dimensionRef = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_REF); // returns 'A1:M13' for instance (or 'A1' for empty sheet)
-                if (preg_match('/[A-Z\d]+:([A-Z\d]+)/', $dimensionRef, $matches)) {
-                    $lastCellIndex = $matches[1];
-                    $this->numColumns = CellHelper::getColumnIndexFromCellIndex($lastCellIndex) + 1;
+                } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_ROW) {
+                    // Start of the row description
+                    $isInsideRowTag = true;
+
+                    // Read spans info if present
+                    $numberOfColumnsForRow = $this->numColumns;
+                    $spans = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_SPANS); // returns '1:5' for instance
+                    if ($spans) {
+                        list(, $numberOfColumnsForRow) = explode(':', $spans);
+                        $numberOfColumnsForRow = intval($numberOfColumnsForRow);
+                    }
+                    $rowData = ($numberOfColumnsForRow !== 0) ? array_fill(0, $numberOfColumnsForRow, '') : [];
+
+                } else if ($isInsideRowTag && $this->xmlReader->nodeType == XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_CELL) {
+                    // Start of a cell description
+                    $currentCellIndex = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_CELL_INDEX);
+                    $currentColumnIndex = CellHelper::getColumnIndexFromCellIndex($currentCellIndex);
+
+                    $node = $this->xmlReader->expand();
+                    $rowData[$currentColumnIndex] = $this->getCellValue($node);
+
+                } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == XMLReader::END_ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_ROW) {
+                    // End of the row description
+                    // If needed, we fill the empty cells
+                    $rowData = ($this->numColumns !== 0) ? $rowData : CellHelper::fillMissingArrayIndexes($rowData);
+                    $this->numReadRows++;
+                    break;
+
+                } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == XMLReader::END_ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_WORKSHEET) {
+                    // The closing "</worksheet>" marks the end of the file
+                    $this->hasReachedEndOfFile = true;
                 }
-
-            } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == \XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_ROW) {
-                // Start of the row description
-                $isInsideRowTag = true;
-
-                // Read spans info if present
-                $numberOfColumnsForRow = $this->numColumns;
-                $spans = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_SPANS); // returns '1:5' for instance
-                if ($spans) {
-                    list(, $numberOfColumnsForRow) = explode(':', $spans);
-                    $numberOfColumnsForRow = intval($numberOfColumnsForRow);
-                }
-                $rowData = ($numberOfColumnsForRow !== 0) ? array_fill(0, $numberOfColumnsForRow, '') : [];
-
-            } else if ($isInsideRowTag && $this->xmlReader->nodeType == \XMLReader::ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_CELL) {
-                // Start of a cell description
-                $currentCellIndex = $this->xmlReader->getAttribute(self::XML_ATTRIBUTE_CELL_INDEX);
-                $currentColumnIndex = CellHelper::getColumnIndexFromCellIndex($currentCellIndex);
-
-                $node = $this->xmlReader->expand();
-                $rowData[$currentColumnIndex] = $this->getCellValue($node);
-
-            } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == \XMLReader::END_ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_ROW) {
-                // End of the row description
-                // If needed, we fill the empty cells
-                $rowData = ($this->numColumns !== 0) ? $rowData : CellHelper::fillMissingArrayIndexes($rowData);
-                $this->numReadRows++;
-                break;
-
-            } else if ($this->xmlReader->nodeType == \XMLReader::END_ELEMENT && $this->xmlReader->name === self::XML_NODE_WORKSHEET) {
-                // The closing "</worksheet>" marks the end of the file
-                $this->hasReachedEndOfFile = true;
             }
-        }
 
-        $readError = libxml_get_last_error();
-        if ($readError !== false) {
-            $readErrorMessage = trim($readError->message);
-            throw new IOException("The {$this->sheetDataXMLFilePath} file cannot be read. [{$readErrorMessage}]");
+        } catch (XMLProcessingException $exception) {
+            throw new IOException("The {$this->sheetDataXMLFilePath} file cannot be read. [{$exception->getMessage()}]");
         }
 
         $this->rowDataBuffer = $rowData;
diff --git a/src/Spout/Writer/XLSX/Internal/Worksheet.php b/src/Spout/Writer/XLSX/Internal/Worksheet.php
index f091004..ef41ec2 100644
--- a/src/Spout/Writer/XLSX/Internal/Worksheet.php
+++ b/src/Spout/Writer/XLSX/Internal/Worksheet.php
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ EOD;
 
         $wasWriteSuccessful = fwrite($this->sheetFilePointer, $data);
         if ($wasWriteSuccessful === false) {
-            throw new IOException('Unable to write data in ' . $this->worksheetFilePath);
+            throw new IOException("Unable to write data in {$this->worksheetFilePath}");
         }
 
         // only update the count if the write worked
diff --git a/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElementTest.php b/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElementTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..bb074d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/SimpleXMLElementTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,127 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper;
+
+use Box\Spout\TestUsingResource;
+
+/**
+ * Class SimpleXMLElementTest
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper
+ */
+class SimpleXMLElementTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    use TestUsingResource;
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testConstructShouldThrowExceptionIfInvalidData()
+    {
+        $invalidXML = '<invalid><xml></invalid>';
+        new SimpleXMLElement($invalidXML);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function dataProviderForTestGetAttribute()
+    {
+        $xmlWithoutNamespace = <<<XML
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<worksheet foo="bar" type="test" />
+XML;
+
+        $xmlWithHalfNamespace = <<<XML
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<worksheet
+    xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"
+    foo="bar" r:type="test" />
+XML;
+
+        $xmlWithFullNamespace = <<<XML
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<worksheet
+    xmlns="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/spreadsheetml/2006/main" xmlns:r="http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/officeDocument/2006/relationships"
+    r:foo="bar" r:type="test" />
+XML;
+
+        return [
+            [$xmlWithoutNamespace, null, ['foo' => 'bar', 'type' => 'test']],
+            [$xmlWithHalfNamespace, null, ['foo' => 'bar', 'type' => null]],
+            [$xmlWithFullNamespace, null, ['foo' => null, 'type' => null]],
+            [$xmlWithoutNamespace, 'r', ['foo' => null, 'type' => null]],
+            [$xmlWithHalfNamespace, 'r', ['foo' => null, 'type' => 'test']],
+            [$xmlWithFullNamespace, 'r', ['foo' => 'bar', 'type' => 'test']],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider dataProviderForTestGetAttribute
+     *
+     * @param string $xml
+     * @param string|null $namespace
+     * @param array $expectedAttributes
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testGetAttribute($xml, $namespace, $expectedAttributes)
+    {
+        $element = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);
+
+        foreach ($expectedAttributes as $name => $expectedValue) {
+            $value = $element->getAttribute($name, $namespace);
+            $this->assertEquals($expectedValue, $value);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testXPath()
+    {
+        $xml = <<<XML
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<worksheet>
+    <sheetData>
+        <row r="1">
+            <c r="A1"><v>0</v></c>
+            <c r="A2"><v>1</v></c>
+        </row>
+    </sheetData>
+</worksheet>
+XML;
+
+        $element = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);
+        $matchedElements = $element->xpath('//c');
+
+        $this->assertEquals(2, count($matchedElements));
+        $this->assertTrue($matchedElements[0] instanceof SimpleXMLElement, 'The SimpleXMLElement should be wrapped');
+        $this->assertEquals('A2', $matchedElements[1]->getAttribute('r'));
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testRemoveNodeMatchingXPath()
+    {
+        $xml = <<<XML
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<worksheet>
+    <sheetData>
+        <row r="1">
+            <c r="A1"><v>0</v></c>
+            <c r="A2"><v>1</v></c>
+        </row>
+    </sheetData>
+</worksheet>
+XML;
+
+        $element = new SimpleXMLElement($xml);
+        $this->assertNotNull($element->getFirstChildByTagName('sheetData'));
+
+        $element->removeNodesMatchingXPath('//sheetData');
+        $this->assertNull($element->getFirstChildByTagName('sheetData'));
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReaderTest.php b/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReaderTest.php
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..097a5fa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/Spout/Reader/Wrapper/XMLReaderTest.php
@@ -0,0 +1,166 @@
+<?php
+
+namespace Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper;
+
+use Box\Spout\TestUsingResource;
+use Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException;
+
+/**
+ * Class XMLReaderTest
+ *
+ * @package Box\Spout\Reader\Wrapper
+ */
+class XMLReaderTest extends \PHPUnit_Framework_TestCase
+{
+    use TestUsingResource;
+
+    /**
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testOpenShouldFailIfFileInsideZipDoesNotExist()
+    {
+        $resourcePath = $this->getResourcePath('one_sheet_with_inline_strings.xlsx');
+        $nonExistingXMLFilePath = 'zip://' . $resourcePath . '#path/to/fake/file.xml';
+
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
+
+        // using "@" to prevent errors/warning to be displayed
+        $wasOpenSuccessful = @$xmlReader->open($nonExistingXMLFilePath);
+
+        $this->assertTrue($wasOpenSuccessful === false);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * Testing a HHVM bug: https://github.com/facebook/hhvm/issues/5779
+     * The associated code in XMLReader::open() can be removed when the issue is fixed (and this test starts failing).
+     * @see XMLReader::open()
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testHHVMStillDoesNotComplainWhenCallingOpenWithFileInsideZipNotExisting()
+    {
+        // Test should only be run on HHVM
+        if ($this->isRunningHHVM()) {
+            $resourcePath = $this->getResourcePath('one_sheet_with_inline_strings.xlsx');
+            $nonExistingXMLFilePath = 'zip://' . $resourcePath . '#path/to/fake/file.xml';
+
+            libxml_clear_errors();
+            $initialUseInternalErrorsSetting = libxml_use_internal_errors(true);
+
+            // using the built-in XMLReader
+            $xmlReader = new \XMLReader();
+            $this->assertTrue($xmlReader->open($nonExistingXMLFilePath) !== false);
+            $this->assertTrue(libxml_get_last_error() === false);
+
+            libxml_use_internal_errors($initialUseInternalErrorsSetting);
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return bool TRUE if running on HHVM, FALSE otherwise
+     */
+    private function isRunningHHVM()
+    {
+        return defined('HHVM_VERSION');
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testReadShouldThrowExceptionOnError()
+    {
+        $resourcePath = $this->getResourcePath('one_sheet_with_invalid_xml_characters.xlsx');
+        $sheetDataXMLFilePath = 'zip://' . $resourcePath . '#xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml';
+
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
+        if ($xmlReader->open($sheetDataXMLFilePath) === false) {
+            $this->fail();
+        }
+
+        // using "@" to prevent errors/warning to be displayed
+        while (@$xmlReader->read()) {
+            // do nothing
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @expectedException \Box\Spout\Reader\Exception\XMLProcessingException
+     *
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testNextShouldThrowExceptionOnError()
+    {
+        // The sharedStrings.xml file in "attack_billion_laughs.xlsx" contains
+        // a doctype element that causes read errors
+        $resourcePath = $this->getResourcePath('attack_billion_laughs.xlsx');
+        $sheetDataXMLFilePath = 'zip://' . $resourcePath . '#xl/sharedStrings.xml';
+
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
+        if ($xmlReader->open($sheetDataXMLFilePath) !== false) {
+            @$xmlReader->next('sst');
+        }
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function dataProviderForTestIsZipStream()
+    {
+        return [
+            ['/absolute/path/to/file.xlsx', false],
+            ['relative/path/to/file.xlsx', false],
+            ['php://temp', false],
+            ['zip:///absolute/path/to/file.xlsx', true],
+            ['zip://relative/path/to/file.xlsx', true],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider dataProviderForTestIsZipStream
+     *
+     * @param string $URI
+     * @param bool $expectedResult
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testIsZipStream($URI, $expectedResult)
+    {
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
+        $isZipStream = \ReflectionHelper::callMethodOnObject($xmlReader, 'isZipStream', $URI);
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expectedResult, $isZipStream);
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @return array
+     */
+    public function dataProviderForTestFileExistsWithinZip()
+    {
+        return [
+            ['[Content_Types].xml', true],
+            ['xl/sharedStrings.xml', true],
+            ['xl/worksheets/sheet1.xml', true],
+            ['/invalid/file.xml', false],
+            ['another/invalid/file.xml', false],
+        ];
+    }
+
+    /**
+     * @dataProvider dataProviderForTestFileExistsWithinZip
+     *
+     * @param string $innerFilePath
+     * @param bool $expectedResult
+     * @return void
+     */
+    public function testFileExistsWithinZip($innerFilePath, $expectedResult)
+    {
+        $resourcePath = $this->getResourcePath('one_sheet_with_inline_strings.xlsx');
+        $zipStreamURI = 'zip://' . $resourcePath . '#' . $innerFilePath;
+
+        $xmlReader = new XMLReader();
+        $isZipStream = \ReflectionHelper::callMethodOnObject($xmlReader, 'fileExistsWithinZip', $zipStreamURI);
+
+        $this->assertEquals($expectedResult, $isZipStream);
+    }
+}
diff --git a/tests/Spout/Reader/XLSX/ReaderTest.php b/tests/Spout/Reader/XLSX/ReaderTest.php
index 0037ca9..1ec4290 100644
--- a/tests/Spout/Reader/XLSX/ReaderTest.php
+++ b/tests/Spout/Reader/XLSX/ReaderTest.php
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@ use Box\Spout\Common\Exception\IOException;
 use Box\Spout\Common\Type;
 use Box\Spout\Reader\ReaderFactory;
 use Box\Spout\TestUsingResource;
-use Symfony\Component\Config\Definition\Exception\Exception;
 
 /**
  * Class ReaderTest
diff --git a/tests/resources/xlsx/one_sheet_with_invalid_xml_characters.xlsx b/tests/resources/xlsx/one_sheet_with_invalid_xml_characters.xlsx
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..49293f5
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/resources/xlsx/one_sheet_with_invalid_xml_characters.xlsx differ