diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMD.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMD.java
index 47e9e08221..0a1865ac98 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMD.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMD.java
@@ -60,6 +60,6 @@ public class PMD {
         }
         PMD pmd = new PMD();
         Report report = pmd.processFile(input, RuleFactory.ALL);
-        System.out.println(report.renderToXML());
+        System.out.println("<pmd>" + report.renderToXML() + "</pmd>");
     }
 }
diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDTask.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDTask.java
index 7f3fba5065..a05d3a47f2 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDTask.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/PMDTask.java
@@ -45,7 +45,16 @@ public class PMDTask extends Task {
         if (ruleSetType == null) {
             throw new BuildException("No rule set type specified");
         }
+        if (format == null) {
+            throw new BuildException("No report format specified");
+        }
+
         StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
+
+        if (format.equals("xml")) {
+            buf.append("<pmd>" + System.getProperty("line.separator"));
+        }
+
         for (Iterator i = filesets.iterator(); i.hasNext();) {
             FileSet fs = (FileSet) i.next();
             DirectoryScanner ds = fs.getDirectoryScanner(project);
@@ -68,6 +77,10 @@ public class PMDTask extends Task {
             }
         }
 
+        if (format.equals("xml")) {
+            buf.append("</pmd>");
+        }
+
         try {
             BufferedWriter writer = new BufferedWriter(new FileWriter(new File(reportFile)));
             writer.write(buf.toString(), 0, buf.length());
diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/Report.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/Report.java
index 278a65f768..31bf3da712 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/Report.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/Report.java
@@ -27,18 +27,12 @@ public class Report {
     }
 
     public String renderToXML() {
-        StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
+        StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer("<file>" + System.getProperty("line.separator") + "<name>" + filename + "</name>");
         for (Iterator iterator = violations.iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
-            if (buf.length() != 0) {
-                buf.append(System.getProperty("line.separator"));
-            }
-            RuleViolation violation = (RuleViolation) iterator.next();
-            buf.append("<ruleviolation>");
-            buf.append("<file>" + filename + "</file>");
-            buf.append(violation.getXML());
-            buf.append("</ruleviolation>");
+            buf.append(((RuleViolation) iterator.next()).getXML());
         }
-        return "<pmd>" + System.getProperty("line.separator") + buf.toString() + System.getProperty("line.separator") + "</pmd>";
+        buf.append("</file>" + System.getProperty("line.separator"));
+        return buf.toString();
     }
 
     public boolean empty() {
diff --git a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleViolation.java b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleViolation.java
index a2ed5b644d..b82e55e6a4 100644
--- a/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleViolation.java
+++ b/pmd/src/net/sourceforge/pmd/RuleViolation.java
@@ -27,8 +27,10 @@ public class RuleViolation {
 
     public String getXML() {
         StringBuffer buf = new StringBuffer();
+        buf.append("<ruleviolation>");
         buf.append("<line>" + Integer.toString(line) + "</line>");
         buf.append("<description>" + description + "</description>");
+        buf.append("</ruleviolation>");
         return buf.toString();
     }
 }