diff --git a/include/ObjectXML.h b/include/ObjectXML.h
index 051dc619c7..fe22774312 100644
--- a/include/ObjectXML.h
+++ b/include/ObjectXML.h
@@ -78,6 +78,15 @@ public:
      */
     void xpath(int& value, const char * xpath_expr, const int& def);
 
+    /**
+     *  Gets and sets a xpath attribute, if the attribute is not found a default
+     *  is used
+     *    @param value to set
+     *    @param xpath_expr of the xml element
+     *    @param def default value if the element is not found
+     */
+    void xpath(time_t& value, const char * xpath_expr, const time_t& def);
+
     /**
      *  Gets the value of an element from an xml string
      *    @param value the value of the element
diff --git a/src/host/Host.cc b/src/host/Host.cc
index f856bfc092..eff18143e0 100644
--- a/src/host/Host.cc
+++ b/src/host/Host.cc
@@ -224,25 +224,23 @@ string& Host::to_xml(string& xml) const
 int Host::from_xml(const string& xml)
 {
     vector<xmlNodePtr> content;
+    int int_state;
 
     // Initialize the internal XML object
     update_from_str(xml);
 
-    oid         = atoi(((*this)["/HOST/ID"] )[0].c_str() );
-    hostname    = ((*this)["/HOST/NAME"])[0];
-    state       = static_cast<HostState>(  atoi(((*this)["/HOST/STATE"])[0].c_str())  );
+    xpath(oid,      "/HOST/ID", -1);
+    xpath(hostname, "/HOST/NAME", "not_found");
+    xpath(int_state, "/HOST/STATE", 0);
+    state = static_cast<HostState>( int_state );
 
-//  TODO: create an ObjectXML method to allow this syntax:
-//    im_mad_name = xpath("/HOST/IM_MAD", "im_default");
+    xpath(im_mad_name,  "/HOST/IM_MAD", "not_found");
+    xpath(vmm_mad_name, "/HOST/VM_MAD", "not_found");
+    xpath(tm_mad_name,  "/HOST/TM_MAD", "not_found");
 
-    im_mad_name  = ((*this)["/HOST/IM_MAD"])[0];
-    vmm_mad_name = ((*this)["/HOST/VM_MAD"])[0];
-    tm_mad_name  = ((*this)["/HOST/TM_MAD"])[0];
+    xpath(last_monitored, "/HOST/LAST_MON_TIME", 0);
 
-
-    last_monitored = static_cast<time_t>(  atoi(((*this)["/HOST/LAST_MON_TIME"] )[0].c_str() )  );
-
-    cluster = ((*this)["/HOST/CLUSTER"])[0];
+    xpath(cluster, "/HOST/CLUSTER", "not_found");
 
     ObjectXML::get_nodes("/HOST/HOST_SHARE", content);
     host_share.from_xml_node( content[0] );
diff --git a/src/host/HostShare.cc b/src/host/HostShare.cc
index a656c74761..964e60d02f 100644
--- a/src/host/HostShare.cc
+++ b/src/host/HostShare.cc
@@ -92,23 +92,23 @@ int HostShare::from_xml_node(const xmlNodePtr node)
     // Initialize the internal XML object
     ObjectXML::update_from_node(node);
 
-    disk_usage = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/DISK_USAGE"] )[0].c_str() );
-    mem_usage  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/MEM_USAGE"] )[0].c_str() );
-    cpu_usage  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/CPU_USAGE"] )[0].c_str() );
+    xpath(disk_usage, "/HOST_SHARE/DISK_USAGE", -1);
+    xpath(mem_usage,  "/HOST_SHARE/MEM_USAGE",  -1);
+    xpath(cpu_usage,  "/HOST_SHARE/CPU_USAGE",  -1);
 
-    max_disk = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/MAX_DISK"] )[0].c_str() );
-    max_mem  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/MAX_MEM"] )[0].c_str() );
-    max_cpu  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/MAX_CPU"] )[0].c_str() );
+    xpath(max_disk,   "/HOST_SHARE/MAX_DISK",   -1);
+    xpath(max_mem ,   "/HOST_SHARE/MAX_MEM",    -1);
+    xpath(max_cpu ,   "/HOST_SHARE/MAX_CPU",    -1);
 
-    free_disk = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/FREE_DISK"] )[0].c_str() );
-    free_mem  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/FREE_MEM"] )[0].c_str() );
-    free_cpu  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/FREE_CPU"] )[0].c_str() );
+    xpath(free_disk,  "/HOST_SHARE/FREE_DISK",  -1);
+    xpath(free_mem ,  "/HOST_SHARE/FREE_MEM",   -1);
+    xpath(free_cpu ,  "/HOST_SHARE/FREE_CPU",   -1);
 
-    used_disk = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/USED_DISK"] )[0].c_str() );
-    used_mem  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/USED_MEM"] )[0].c_str() );
-    used_cpu  = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/USED_CPU"] )[0].c_str() );
+    xpath(used_disk,  "/HOST_SHARE/USED_DISK",  -1);
+    xpath(used_mem ,  "/HOST_SHARE/USED_MEM",   -1);
+    xpath(used_cpu ,  "/HOST_SHARE/USED_CPU",   -1);
 
-    running_vms = atoi(((*this)["/HOST_SHARE/RUNNING_VMS"] )[0].c_str() );
+    xpath(running_vms,"/HOST_SHARE/RUNNING_VMS",-1);
 
     return 0;
 }
diff --git a/src/xml/ObjectXML.cc b/src/xml/ObjectXML.cc
index f08973b6bc..92c0431e5d 100644
--- a/src/xml/ObjectXML.cc
+++ b/src/xml/ObjectXML.cc
@@ -179,6 +179,18 @@ void ObjectXML::xpath(int& value, const char * xpath_expr, const int& def)
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 /* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
 
+void ObjectXML::xpath(time_t& value, const char * xpath_expr, const time_t& def)
+{
+    int int_val;
+    int int_def = static_cast<time_t>(def);
+
+    xpath(int_val, xpath_expr, int_def);
+    value = static_cast<time_t>(int_val);
+}
+
+/* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+/* -------------------------------------------------------------------------- */
+
 int ObjectXML::xpath_value(string& value,const char *doc,const char *the_xpath)
 {
     int rc = 0;