diff --git a/xmllint.c b/xmllint.c
index d1116afc..9b0b89d0 100644
--- a/xmllint.c
+++ b/xmllint.c
@@ -2549,6 +2549,8 @@ static void parseAndPrintFile(char *filename, xmlParserCtxtPtr rectxt) {
 
                 if (format)
 		    saveOpts |= XML_SAVE_FORMAT;
+                if (xmlout)
+                    saveOpts |= XML_SAVE_AS_XML;
 
 		if (output == NULL)
 		    ctxt = xmlSaveToFd(1, encoding, saveOpts);