diff --git a/lib/devices/android/android-common.js b/lib/devices/android/android-common.js
index fae967c2d..e5505f624 100644
--- a/lib/devices/android/android-common.js
+++ b/lib/devices/android/android-common.js
@@ -76,6 +76,9 @@ androidCommon.setAndroidArgs = function () {
   this.setArgFromCap("androidWaitActivity", "appWaitActivity");
   this.setArgFromCap("androidDeviceReadyTimeout", "deviceReadyTimeout");
   this.setArgFromCap("androidCoverage", "androidCoverage");
+  // must be enabled by default or XPath will be broken on API >= 18
+  // compressXml is not available on API <= 17
+  this.args.compressXml = true;
   this.setArgFromCap("compressXml", "compressXml");
   this.args.systemPort = this.args.bootstrapPort;
   this.args.appPackage = this.args.androidPackage;