diff --git a/scrapy/tests/test_utils_sitemap.py b/scrapy/tests/test_utils_sitemap.py
index 331888753..762ebe0ed 100644
--- a/scrapy/tests/test_utils_sitemap.py
+++ b/scrapy/tests/test_utils_sitemap.py
@@ -56,6 +56,28 @@ class SitemapTest(unittest.TestCase):
     <lastmod />
   </url>
 </urlset>
+""")
+        self.assertEqual(list(s),
+            [{'priority': '1', 'loc': 'http://www.example.com/', 'lastmod': '2009-08-16', 'changefreq': 'daily'},
+             {'loc': 'http://www.example.com/2', 'lastmod': ''},
+            ])
+
+    def test_sitemap_wrong_ns(self):
+        """We have seen sitemaps with wrongs ns. Presumably, Google still works
+        with these, though is not 100% confirmed"""
+        s = Sitemap("""<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
+<urlset xmlns="http://www.google.com/schemas/sitemap/0.84">
+  <url xmlns="">
+    <loc> http://www.example.com/</loc>
+    <lastmod>2009-08-16</lastmod>
+    <changefreq>daily</changefreq>
+    <priority>1</priority>
+  </url>
+  <url xmlns="">
+    <loc> http://www.example.com/2</loc>
+    <lastmod />
+  </url>
+</urlset>
 """)
         self.assertEqual(list(s),
             [{'priority': '1', 'loc': 'http://www.example.com/', 'lastmod': '2009-08-16', 'changefreq': 'daily'},
diff --git a/scrapy/utils/sitemap.py b/scrapy/utils/sitemap.py
index d0157d397..2a496f719 100644
--- a/scrapy/utils/sitemap.py
+++ b/scrapy/utils/sitemap.py
@@ -22,7 +22,8 @@ class Sitemap(object):
         for elem in self._root.getchildren():
             d = {}
             for el in elem.getchildren():
-                _, name = el.tag.split('}', 1)
+                tag = el.tag
+                name = tag.split('}', 1)[1] if '}' in tag else tag
                 d[name] = el.text.strip() if el.text else ''
             yield d