diff --git a/src/node.xsl b/src/node.xsl
index 2ccb1b8..938e7c1 100644
--- a/src/node.xsl
+++ b/src/node.xsl
@@ -156,6 +156,16 @@
 </function>
 
 
+<!--
+  Construct an attribute named @var{qname} with an empty value.
+-->
+<function name="n:attr" as="attribute()">
+  <param name="qname" as="xs:QName" />
+
+  <sequence select="n:attr( $qname, '' )" />
+</function>
+
+
 <!--
   Create a text node with the given @var{text}.  The @var{text} will be
   output verbatim without any whitespace processing.
diff --git a/test/node.xspec b/test/node.xspec
index 7691edf..e89f87d 100644
--- a/test/node.xspec
+++ b/test/node.xspec
@@ -172,19 +172,36 @@
 
 
   <scenario label="A new attribute">
-    <!-- to test this, the attribute needs an element parent -->
-    <call function="n:element">
-      <param name="qname" select="$test-qname-a" />
-      <param name="attrs"
-             select="n:attr( $test-qname-b, 'foo' )" />
-      <param name="child-nodes" select="()" />
-    </call>
+    <scenario label="with a value">
+      <!-- to test this, the attribute needs an element parent -->
+      <call function="n:element">
+        <param name="qname" select="$test-qname-a" />
+        <param name="attrs"
+               select="n:attr( $test-qname-b, 'foo' )" />
+      </call>
 
-    <expect label="has given QName"
-            test="node-name( $x:result/@* ) = $test-qname-b" />
+      <expect label="has given QName"
+              test="node-name( $x:result/@* ) = $test-qname-b" />
 
-    <expect label="has given value"
-            test="$x:result/@* = 'foo'" />
+      <expect label="has given value"
+              test="$x:result/@* = 'foo'" />
+    </scenario>
+
+
+    <scenario label="with no value">
+      <!-- to test this, the attribute needs an element parent -->
+      <call function="n:element">
+        <param name="qname" select="$test-qname-a" />
+        <param name="attrs"
+               select="n:attr( $test-qname-c )" />
+      </call>
+
+      <expect label="has given QName"
+              test="node-name( $x:result/@* ) = $test-qname-c" />
+
+      <expect label="has empty value"
+              test="$x:result/@* = ''" />
+    </scenario>
   </scenario>