diff --git a/include/private/parser.h b/include/private/parser.h
index 67495d11..02a4ab09 100644
--- a/include/private/parser.h
+++ b/include/private/parser.h
@@ -49,12 +49,14 @@ xmlDetectEncoding(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt);
 XML_HIDDEN void
 xmlSetDeclaredEncoding(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt, xmlChar *encoding);
 
+XML_HIDDEN xmlParserNsData *
+xmlParserNsCreate(void);
+XML_HIDDEN void
+xmlParserNsFree(xmlParserNsData *nsdb);
 /*
  * These functions allow SAX handlers to attach extra data to namespaces
  * efficiently and should be made public.
  */
-void
-xmlParserNsFree(xmlParserNsData *nsdb);
 XML_HIDDEN int
 xmlParserNsUpdateSax(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt, const xmlChar *prefix,
                      void *saxData);
diff --git a/parser.c b/parser.c
index b854e4a9..7de41a26 100644
--- a/parser.c
+++ b/parser.c
@@ -1397,7 +1397,7 @@ static xmlEntityPtr xmlParseStringEntityRef(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt,
  *
  * Returns the new obejct.
  */
-static xmlParserNsData *
+xmlParserNsData *
 xmlParserNsCreate(void) {
     xmlParserNsData *nsdb = xmlMalloc(sizeof(*nsdb));
 
@@ -9473,14 +9473,6 @@ xmlParseStartTag2(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt, const xmlChar **pref,
     nbNs = 0;
     attval = 0;
 
-    if (ctxt->nsdb == NULL) {
-        ctxt->nsdb = xmlParserNsCreate();
-        if (ctxt->nsdb == NULL) {
-            xmlErrMemory(ctxt, NULL);
-            return(NULL);
-        }
-    }
-
     if (xmlParserNsStartElement(ctxt->nsdb) < 0) {
         xmlErrMemory(ctxt, NULL);
         return(NULL);
@@ -12916,11 +12908,6 @@ xmlParseBalancedChunkMemoryInternal(xmlParserCtxtPtr oldctxt,
 
     /* propagate namespaces down the entity */
     if (oldctxt->nsdb != NULL) {
-        ctxt->nsdb = xmlParserNsCreate();
-        if (ctxt->nsdb == NULL) {
-            ret = XML_ERR_NO_MEMORY;
-            goto error;
-        }
         for (i = 0; i < oldctxt->nsdb->hashSize; i++) {
             xmlParserNsBucket *bucket = &oldctxt->nsdb->hash[i];
             xmlHashedString hprefix, huri;
diff --git a/parserInternals.c b/parserInternals.c
index 693e598f..59011002 100644
--- a/parserInternals.c
+++ b/parserInternals.c
@@ -2002,6 +2002,15 @@ xmlInitSAXParserCtxt(xmlParserCtxtPtr ctxt, const xmlSAXHandler *sax,
     ctxt->input_id = 1;
     ctxt->maxAmpl = XML_MAX_AMPLIFICATION_DEFAULT;
     xmlInitNodeInfoSeq(&ctxt->node_seq);
+
+    if (ctxt->nsdb == NULL) {
+        ctxt->nsdb = xmlParserNsCreate();
+        if (ctxt->nsdb == NULL) {
+            xmlErrMemory(ctxt, NULL);
+            return(-1);
+        }
+    }
+
     return(0);
 }