xPathApi.setNamespaceContext(new DefaultNamespaceContext(doc.getNodeType() == Node.DOCUMENT_NODE ? doc.getDocumentElement() : doc));
        return xPathApi.evaluateExpression(xpath, doc, XPathNodes.class);
    }

    /**
     * Retrieves an XPathAPI instance from the cache or creates a new one.
     * @return An XPathAPI instance.
     */
    protected XPathAPI getXPathAPI() {