diff --git a/org.eclipse.lemminx/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lemminx/extensions/xsd/contentmodel/CMXSDDocument.java b/org.eclipse.lemminx/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lemminx/extensions/xsd/contentmodel/CMXSDDocument.java
index bd0fd09dce..0e4038fee2 100644
--- a/org.eclipse.lemminx/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lemminx/extensions/xsd/contentmodel/CMXSDDocument.java
+++ b/org.eclipse.lemminx/src/main/java/org/eclipse/lemminx/extensions/xsd/contentmodel/CMXSDDocument.java
@@ -274,7 +274,6 @@ public LocationLink findTypeLocation(DOMNode originNode) {
 					if (attributeDecl.getScope() == XSConstants.SCOPE_LOCAL) {
 						return findLocalXSAttribute(originAttribute, targetSchema,
 								attributeDecl.getEnclosingCTDefinition(), schemaGrammar);
-
 					}
 				}
 			} else {
@@ -284,8 +283,12 @@ public LocationLink findTypeLocation(DOMNode originNode) {
 				if (globalElement) {
 					return findGlobalXSElement(originElement, targetSchema);
 				} else {
-					return findLocalXSElement(originElement, targetSchema,
-							elementDeclaration.getElementDeclaration().getEnclosingCTDefinition(), schemaGrammar);
+					XSComplexTypeDefinition complexTypeDefinition = elementDeclaration.getElementDeclaration()
+							.getEnclosingCTDefinition();
+					if (complexTypeDefinition != null) {
+						return findLocalXSElement(originElement, targetSchema, complexTypeDefinition, schemaGrammar);
+					}
+					return findXSElement(originElement, targetSchema.getChildNodes(), true);
 				}
 			}
 		}
@@ -409,7 +412,7 @@ private static LocationLink findGlobalXSElement(DOMElement originElement, DOMDoc
 	private static LocationLink findLocalXSElement(DOMElement originElement, DOMDocument targetSchema,
 			XSComplexTypeDefinition enclosingType, SchemaGrammar schemaGrammar) {
 		// In local xs:element case, xs:element is declared inside a complex type
-		// (enclosing tye).
+		// (enclosing type).
 		// Xerces stores in the SchemaGrammar the locator (offset) for each complex type
 		// (XSComplexTypeDecl)
 		// Here we get the offset of the local enclosing complex type xs:complexType.
@@ -501,16 +504,12 @@ private static LocationLink findXSElement(DOMElement originElement, NodeList chi
 			Node n = children.item(i);
 			if (n.getNodeType() == Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
 				Element elt = (Element) n;
-				if (XSDUtils.isXSElement(elt)) {
-					if (originElement.getLocalName().equals(elt.getAttribute("name"))) {
-						DOMAttr targetAttr = (DOMAttr) elt.getAttributeNode("name");
-						LocationLink location = XMLPositionUtility.createLocationLink(originElement,
-								targetAttr.getNodeAttrValue());
-						return location;
-					}
+				LocationLink location = findXSElement(originElement, elt);
+				if (location != null) {
+					return location;
 				}
 				if (inAnyLevel && elt.hasChildNodes()) {
-					LocationLink location = findXSElement(originElement, elt.getChildNodes(), inAnyLevel);
+					location = findXSElement(originElement, elt.getChildNodes(), inAnyLevel);
 					if (location != null) {
 						return location;
 					}
@@ -520,6 +519,18 @@ private static LocationLink findXSElement(DOMElement originElement, NodeList chi
 		return null;
 	}
 
+	private static LocationLink findXSElement(DOMElement originElement, Element elt) {
+		if (elt != null && XSDUtils.isXSElement(elt)) {
+			if (originElement.getLocalName().equals(elt.getAttribute("name"))) {
+				DOMAttr targetAttr = (DOMAttr) elt.getAttributeNode("name");
+				LocationLink location = XMLPositionUtility.createLocationLink(originElement,
+						targetAttr.getNodeAttrValue());
+				return location;
+			}
+		}
+		return null;
+	}
+
 	private static LocationLink findLocalXSAttribute(DOMAttr originAttribute, DOMDocument targetSchema,
 			XSComplexTypeDefinition enclosingType, SchemaGrammar schemaGrammar) {
 		int complexTypeOffset = getComplexTypeOffset(enclosingType, schemaGrammar);