diff --git a/lib/vagrant-libvirt/action/start_domain.rb b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/action/start_domain.rb
index 5a146ac..c796f67 100644
--- a/lib/vagrant-libvirt/action/start_domain.rb
+++ b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/action/start_domain.rb
@@ -2,14 +2,16 @@
 
 require 'log4r'
 
-require 'compare-xml'
 require 'rexml/document'
 
+require 'vagrant-libvirt/util/xml'
+
 module VagrantPlugins
   module ProviderLibvirt
     module Action
       # Just start the domain.
       class StartDomain
+
         def initialize(app, _env)
           @logger = Log4r::Logger.new('vagrant_libvirt::action::start_domain')
           @app = app
@@ -427,27 +429,13 @@ module VagrantPlugins
 
                 begin
                   # need to check whether the updated XML contains all the changes requested
+                  proposed = VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Util::Xml.new(new_xml)
+                  applied = VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Util::Xml.new(libvirt_domain.xml_desc(1))
 
-                  # This normalizes the attribute order to be consistent across both XML docs to
-                  # eliminate differences for subsequent comparison by diffy
-                  applied_xml_descr = REXML::Document.new(libvirt_domain.xml_desc(1))
-                  applied_xml = String.new
-                  applied_xml_descr.write(applied_xml)
-
-                  proposed = Nokogiri::XML(new_xml, &:noblanks)
-                  applied = Nokogiri::XML(applied_xml, &:noblanks)
-
-                  if CompareXML.equivalent?(proposed, applied, { force_children: true })
+                  if proposed != applied
                     require 'diffy'
 
-                    # pretty print the XML as even though there can be additional changes,
-                    # the output with diffy appears to be clearer
-                    pretty_proposed = StringIO.new
-                    pretty_applied = StringIO.new
-                    proposed.write_xml_to(pretty_proposed, indent: 2)
-                    applied.write_xml_to(pretty_applied, indent: 2)
-
-                    diff = Diffy::Diff.new(pretty_proposed.string, pretty_applied.string, :context => 3).to_s(:text)
+                    diff = Diffy::Diff.new(proposed, applied, :context => 3).to_s(:text)
 
                     error_msg = "Libvirt failed to fully update the domain with the specified XML. Result differs from requested:\n" +
                       "--- requested\n+++ result\n#{diff}\n" +
diff --git a/lib/vagrant-libvirt/util/xml.rb b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/util/xml.rb
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e0e0e7e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/vagrant-libvirt/util/xml.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+# frozen_string_literal: true
+
+require 'xmlsimple'
+
+module VagrantPlugins
+  module ProviderLibvirt
+    module Util
+      class Xml
+        attr_reader :xml
+
+        def initialize(xmlstr)
+          @xml = compact_content(XmlSimple.xml_in(xmlstr, {'NormaliseSpace' => 2}))
+        end
+
+        def to_str
+          XmlSimple.xml_out(@xml)
+        end
+
+        def ==(other)
+          @xml == other.xml
+        end
+
+        private
+
+        # content elements that are empty are preserved by xml-simple and will result
+        # in the structures being considered different even if functionality the same
+        # strip any empty ones to avoid.
+        def compact_content(node)
+          if node.is_a?(Array)
+            node.map! do |element|
+              compact_content(element)
+            end
+          elsif node.is_a?(Hash)
+            if node['content'] and node['content'].empty?
+              node.delete('content')
+            end
+            node.each do |k, v|
+              node[k] = compact_content(v)
+            end
+          else
+            return node
+          end
+        end
+      end
+    end
+  end
+end
diff --git a/spec/unit/action/start_domain_spec.rb b/spec/unit/action/start_domain_spec.rb
index dd1bd84..aa5abcc 100644
--- a/spec/unit/action/start_domain_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/unit/action/start_domain_spec.rb
@@ -72,7 +72,30 @@ describe VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Action::StartDomain do
 
         expect(subject.call(env)).to be_nil
       end
+    end
 
+    context 'when xml not applied' do
+      let(:test_file) { 'default_with_different_formatting.xml' }
+      let(:updated_domain_xml) {
+        new_xml = domain_xml.dup
+        new_xml.gsub!(/<cpu .*<\/cpu>/m, '<cpu mode="host-passthrough"/>')
+        new_xml
+      }
+      let(:vagrantfile_providerconfig) do
+        <<-EOF
+        libvirt.cpu_mode = "host-passthrough"
+        EOF
+      end
+
+      it 'should error and revert the update' do
+        expect(ui).to receive(:error)
+        expect(connection).to receive(:define_domain).and_return(libvirt_domain)
+        expect(connection).to receive(:define_domain).with(domain_xml) # undo
+        expect(libvirt_domain).to receive(:xml_desc).and_return(domain_xml, updated_domain_xml)
+        expect(domain).to_not receive(:start)
+
+        expect { subject.call(env) }.to raise_error(VagrantPlugins::ProviderLibvirt::Errors::FogError)
+      end
     end
 
     context 'when any setting changed' do
diff --git a/vagrant-libvirt.gemspec b/vagrant-libvirt.gemspec
index 8b052ee..457277f 100644
--- a/vagrant-libvirt.gemspec
+++ b/vagrant-libvirt.gemspec
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |s|
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'fog-libvirt', '>= 0.6.0'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'fog-core', '~> 2'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'rexml'
-  s.add_runtime_dependency 'compare-xml'
+  s.add_runtime_dependency 'xml-simple'
   s.add_runtime_dependency 'diffy'
 
   # Make sure to allow use of the same version as Vagrant by being less specific