diff --git a/src/ifcwrap/IfcParseWrapper.i b/src/ifcwrap/IfcParseWrapper.i
index 4bc5301c8c..81fa7e1c6c 100644
--- a/src/ifcwrap/IfcParseWrapper.i
+++ b/src/ifcwrap/IfcParseWrapper.i
@@ -520,10 +520,17 @@ static IfcUtil::ArgumentType helper_fn_attribute_type(const IfcUtil::IfcBaseClas
 // The IfcFile* returned by open() is to be freed by SWIG/Python
 %newobject open;
 %newobject read;
-
-#ifdef WITH_IFCXML
 %newobject parse_ifcxml;
+
+%inline %{
+	IfcParse::IfcFile* parse_ifcxml(const std::string& fn) {
+#ifdef WITH_IFCXML
+		return IfcParse::parse_ifcxml(fn);
+#else
+		throw std::runtime_error("No IfcXML support enabled");
 #endif
+	}
+%}
 
 %inline %{
 	IfcParse::IfcFile* open(const std::string& fn) {
@@ -531,12 +538,6 @@ static IfcUtil::ArgumentType helper_fn_attribute_type(const IfcUtil::IfcBaseClas
 		return f;
 	}
 
-#ifdef WITH_IFCXML
-	IfcParse::IfcFile* parse_ifcxml(const std::string& fn) {
-		return IfcParse::parse_ifcxml(fn);
-	}
-#endif
-
     IfcParse::IfcFile* read(const std::string& data) {
 		char* copiedData = new char[data.length()];
 		memcpy(copiedData, data.c_str(), data.length());