diff --git a/src/coreclr/tools/aot/ILCompiler.Compiler/Compiler/UsageBasedMetadataManager.cs b/src/coreclr/tools/aot/ILCompiler.Compiler/Compiler/UsageBasedMetadataManager.cs
index fc0249f76847e..45be574e031ea 100644
--- a/src/coreclr/tools/aot/ILCompiler.Compiler/Compiler/UsageBasedMetadataManager.cs
+++ b/src/coreclr/tools/aot/ILCompiler.Compiler/Compiler/UsageBasedMetadataManager.cs
@@ -1093,7 +1093,7 @@ private void ProcessAttribute(TypeDesc type, XPathNavigator nav)
                 string internalValue = GetAttribute(nav, "internal");
                 if (!string.IsNullOrEmpty(internalValue))
                 {
-                    if (!IsRemoveAttributeInstances(internalValue) || !nav.IsEmptyElement)
+                    if (!IsRemoveAttributeInstances(internalValue))
                     {
                         LogWarning(nav, DiagnosticId.UnrecognizedInternalAttribute, internalValue);
                     }