diff --git a/scour.py b/scour.py
index 5062f33..9b69595 100755
--- a/scour.py
+++ b/scour.py
@@ -2071,11 +2071,15 @@ def serializeXML(element, options, ind = 0, preserveWhitespace = False):
 		
 		outString += ' '
 		# preserve xmlns: if it is a namespace prefix declaration
-		if attr.namespaceURI == 'http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/' and attr.nodeName.find('xmlns') == -1:
-			outString += 'xmlns:'
-		outString += attr.nodeName + '=' + quot + attrValue + quot
-		
-		# TODO: when to set preserveWhitespace to true, with a value of 'none'?
+		if attr.prefix != None:
+			outString += attr.prefix + ':'
+		elif attr.namespaceURI != None:
+			if attr.namespaceURI == 'http://www.w3.org/2000/xmlns/' and attr.nodeName.find('xmlns') == -1:
+				outString += 'xmlns:'
+			elif attr.namespaceURI == 'http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink':
+				outString += 'xlink:'
+		outString += attr.localName + '=' + quot + attrValue + quot
+
 		if attr.nodeName == 'xml:space':
 			if attrValue == 'preserve':
 				preserveWhitespace = True
diff --git a/testscour.py b/testscour.py
index 4b5b390..7c8322f 100755
--- a/testscour.py
+++ b/testscour.py
@@ -944,6 +944,12 @@ class DoNotPrettyPrintWhenNestedWhitespacePreserved(unittest.TestCase):
  <text xml:space="preserve"><tspan font-style="italic">Use <tspan font-style="bold">bold</tspan> text</tspan></text>
 </svg>''',
 			'Whitespace not preserved when nested')
+	
+class GetAttrPrefixRight(unittest.TestCase):
+	def runTest(self):
+		grad = scour.scourXmlFile('unittests/xml-namespace-attrs.svg').getElementsByTagNameNS(SVGNS, 'linearGradient')[1]
+		self.assertEquals( grad.getAttributeNS('http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink', 'href'), '#linearGradient841',
+			'Did not get xlink:href prefix right' )
 
 # TODO; write a test for embedding rasters
 # TODO: write a test for --disable-embed-rasters
diff --git a/unittests/xml-namespace-attrs.svg b/unittests/xml-namespace-attrs.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..b1c5b11
--- /dev/null
+++ b/unittests/xml-namespace-attrs.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,24 @@
+<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
+<svg xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" width="256pt" height="3170.0000pt">
+
+  <defs>
+    <linearGradient id="linearGradient841">
+      <stop id="stop842" offset="0.00000000" style="stop-color:#0082ab;stop-opacity:1;"/>
+      <stop id="stop843" offset="1" style="stop-color:white;stop-opacity:0;"/>
+    </linearGradient>
+    <linearGradient y2="0.91666669" x2="0.51618570" y1="0.16666391" x1="0.51618570" id="linearGradient1657" xlink:href="#linearGradient841"/>
+  </defs>
+  
+  <defs>
+    <linearGradient id="linearGradient841">
+      <stop style="stop-color:#0082ab;stop-opacity:1;" offset="0.00000000" id="stop842"/>
+      <stop style="stop-color:white;stop-opacity:0;" offset="1" id="stop843"/>
+    </linearGradient>
+    <linearGradient xlink:href="#linearGradient841" id="linearGradient2465" x1="76.846634" y1="-7656.4473" x2="76.846633" y2="-7528.6605" gradientTransform="matrix(2.149642,0.000000,0.000000,0.465194,-0.130153,3495.428)" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"/>
+  </defs>
+  
+  <rect height="50" width="50" fill="url(#linearGradient841)"/>
+  <rect height="69.247704" width="319.89233" fill="url(#linearGradient1657)"/>
+  <rect fill="url(#linearGradient2465)" width="319.99103" height="69.247704"/>
+
+</svg>
\ No newline at end of file