self closing tags wraps sibling elements

Hi,

I am loading xml into the editor for editing. Some custom elements are closed using the self closing shorthand notation for eg. <observations />. The issue is that when it is loaded into the editor it becomes <observations></observations> and it wraps the sibling elements.

Actual xml

    <entry>
        <observations />
        <imaging />
    </entry>

After loading

        <entry>
            <observations>
                <imaging/>
            </observations>
        </entry>

How can I prevent the editor from doing this.