diff --git a/src/Guzzle/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitor.php b/src/Guzzle/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitor.php
index 3c652c25..f71ca72e 100644
--- a/src/Guzzle/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitor.php
+++ b/src/Guzzle/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitor.php
@@ -61,9 +61,22 @@ class XmlVisitor extends AbstractRequestVisitor
      */
     public function after(CommandInterface $command, RequestInterface $request)
     {
+        $xml = null;
+
+        // If data was found that needs to be serialized, then do so
         if (isset($this->data[$command])) {
-            $request->setBody($this->data[$command]->asXML());
+            $xml = $this->data[$command]->asXML();
             unset($this->data[$command]);
+        } else {
+            // Check if XML should always be sent for the command
+            $operation = $command->getOperation();
+            if ($operation->getData('xmlAllowEmpty')) {
+                $xml = $this->createRootElement($operation)->asXML();
+            }
+        }
+
+        if ($xml) {
+            $request->setBody($xml);
             // Don't overwrite the Content-Type if one is set
             if ($this->contentType && !$request->hasHeader('Content-Type')) {
                 $request->setHeader('Content-Type', $this->contentType);
diff --git a/tests/Guzzle/Tests/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitorTest.php b/tests/Guzzle/Tests/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitorTest.php
index 9e466b96..6f4ac76b 100644
--- a/tests/Guzzle/Tests/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitorTest.php
+++ b/tests/Guzzle/Tests/Service/Command/LocationVisitor/Request/XmlVisitorTest.php
@@ -503,4 +503,23 @@ class XmlVisitorTest extends AbstractVisitorTestCase
             (string) $request->getBody()
         );
     }
+
+    public function testAllowsSendingXmlPayloadIfNoXmlParamsWereSet()
+    {
+        $operation = new Operation(array(
+            'httpMethod' => 'POST',
+            'data' => array('xmlAllowEmpty' => true),
+            'parameters' => array('Foo' => array('location' => 'xml'))
+        ));
+        $command = $this->getMockBuilder('Guzzle\Service\Command\OperationCommand')
+            ->setConstructorArgs(array(array(), $operation))
+            ->getMockForAbstractClass();
+        $command->setClient(new Client('http://foo.com'));
+        $request = $command->prepare();
+        $this->assertEquals(
+            '<?xml version="1.0"?>' . "\n"
+            . '<Request/>' . "\n",
+            (string) $request->getBody()
+        );
+    }
 }