I am trying to deserialize an xml string in c#3.5, the code below does work in c# 4.0. When I try to run in the code in c#3.5 I get an Object reference not set to an instance of an object exception when the code tries in initialize the XmlSerializer. Any help would be appreciated. string xml = "<boolean xmlns=\"http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/serialization/\">false</boolean>"; var xSerializer = new XmlSerializer(typeof(bool), null, null, new XmlRootAttribute("boolean"), "http://schemas.microsoft.com/2003/10/serialization/"); using (var sr = new StringReader(xml)) using (var xr = XmlReader.Create(sr)) { var y = xSerializer.Deserialize(xr); } System.NullReferenceException was unhandled Message="Object reference not set to an instance of an object." Source="System.Xml" StackTrace: at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer..ctor(Type type, XmlAttributeOverrides overrides, Type[] extraTypes, XmlRootAttribute root, String defaultNamespace, String location, Evidence evidence) at System.Xml.Serialization.XmlSerializer..ctor(Type type, XmlAttributeOverrides overrides, Type[] extraTypes, XmlRootAttribute root, String defaultNamespace) .... at System.AppDomain._nExecuteAssembly(Assembly assembly, String[] args) at Microsoft.VisualStudio.HostingProcess.HostProc.RunUsersAssembly() at System.Threading.ExecutionContext.Run(ExecutionContext executionContext, ContextCallback callback, Object state) at System.Threading.ThreadHelper.ThreadStart() InnerException: