diff --git a/src/utils/libeoaconvert.py b/src/utils/libeoaconvert.py
index b508d4c..06ec58d 100644
--- a/src/utils/libeoaconvert.py
+++ b/src/utils/libeoaconvert.py
@@ -369,6 +369,21 @@ def transfer_xml_attributes(old_element_attributes, new_element):
     return
 # def transfer_xml_attributes ends here
 
+
+def check_xml_empty(xml_element):
+    """Check if an element has neither attributes, text or children"""
+
+    attributes = xml_element.attrib
+    text = xml_element.text
+    children = xml_element.getchildren()
+
+    if len(attributes) == 0 and text is None and len(children) == 0:
+        return True
+    else:
+        return False
+# def check_xml_empty ends here
+
+
 def split_with_milestone_element(element, milestone, splitter):
     """Split the text of an element by inserting milestone tags."""