diff --git a/lib/rexml/parsers/baseparser.rb b/lib/rexml/parsers/baseparser.rb
index 39e9ec3fb1..f76aed0787 100644
--- a/lib/rexml/parsers/baseparser.rb
+++ b/lib/rexml/parsers/baseparser.rb
@@ -335,6 +335,10 @@ module REXML
               @nsstack.shift
               last_tag = @tags.pop
               md = @source.match( CLOSE_MATCH, true )
+              if md and !last_tag
+                message = "Unexpected top-level end tag (got '#{md[1]}')"
+                raise REXML::ParseException.new(message, @source)
+              end
               if md.nil? or last_tag != md[1]
                 message = "Missing end tag for '#{last_tag}'"
                 message << " (got '#{md[1]}')" if md
diff --git a/test/rexml/parse/test_element.rb b/test/rexml/parse/test_element.rb
index aad915fe7b..7322e0eb4e 100644
--- a/test/rexml/parse/test_element.rb
+++ b/test/rexml/parse/test_element.rb
@@ -8,6 +8,19 @@ module REXMLTests
     end
 
     class TestInvalid < self
+      def test_top_level_end_tag
+        exception = assert_raise(REXML::ParseException) do
+          parse("</a>")
+        end
+        assert_equal(<<-DETAIL.chomp, exception.to_s)
+Unexpected top-level end tag (got 'a')
+Line: 1
+Position: 4
+Last 80 unconsumed characters:
+
+        DETAIL
+      end
+
       def test_no_end_tag
         exception = assert_raise(REXML::ParseException) do
           parse("<a></")