diff --git a/Gemfile b/Gemfile
index 3aaf9a6123..4e13331626 100644
--- a/Gemfile
+++ b/Gemfile
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ end
 platforms :ruby do
   gem 'json'
   gem 'yajl-ruby'
-  gem "nokogiri", ">= 1.4.3.1"
+  gem "nokogiri", ">= 1.4.4"
 
   # AR
   gem "sqlite3-ruby", "~> 1.3.1", :require => 'sqlite3'
diff --git a/activesupport/lib/active_support/xml_mini/nokogirisax.rb b/activesupport/lib/active_support/xml_mini/nokogirisax.rb
index 38c8685390..25afbfcd1c 100644
--- a/activesupport/lib/active_support/xml_mini/nokogirisax.rb
+++ b/activesupport/lib/active_support/xml_mini/nokogirisax.rb
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@ module ActiveSupport
       end
 
       def start_element(name, attrs = [])
-        new_hash = { CONTENT_KEY => '' }
-        new_hash[attrs.shift] = attrs.shift while attrs.length > 0
+        new_hash = { CONTENT_KEY => '' }.merge(Hash[attrs])
         new_hash[HASH_SIZE_KEY] = new_hash.size + 1
 
         case current_hash[name]