diff --git a/DDCore/include/XML/XMLElements.h b/DDCore/include/XML/XMLElements.h
index 7c443d230bbd000e9249c4fc2a0bf680e4e95ae9..1102516dbb2e44edcdc9ef1b6bc3f805bc14eac3 100644
--- a/DDCore/include/XML/XMLElements.h
+++ b/DDCore/include/XML/XMLElements.h
@@ -693,6 +693,12 @@ namespace DD4hep {
       template <class T> T attr(const XmlChar* tag) const {
         return m_element.attr<T>(tag);
       }
+#ifndef __TIXML__
+      /// Access typed attribute value by it's name
+      template <class T> T attr(const char* name) const {
+        return this->attr<T>(Strng_t(name));
+      }
+#endif
       /// Access attribute name (throws exception if not present)
       const XmlChar* attr_name(const Attribute attr) const {
         return m_element.attr_name(attr);