diff --git a/plugins/plugin_utils/from_xml.py b/plugins/plugin_utils/from_xml.py
index eb1194e..c261629 100644
--- a/plugins/plugin_utils/from_xml.py
+++ b/plugins/plugin_utils/from_xml.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def from_xml(data, engine):
         if not HAS_XMLTODICT:
             _raise_error("Missing required library xmltodict")
         try:
-            res = xmltodict.parse(data)
+            res = xmltodict.parse(data, dict_constructor=dict)
         except Exception:
             _raise_error("Input Xml is not valid")
         return res
diff --git a/tests/integration/targets/utils_from_xml/tasks/simple.yaml b/tests/integration/targets/utils_from_xml/tasks/simple.yaml
index edc529e..aae1074 100644
--- a/tests/integration/targets/utils_from_xml/tasks/simple.yaml
+++ b/tests/integration/targets/utils_from_xml/tasks/simple.yaml
@@ -19,10 +19,12 @@
 
 - name: Integration tests with and without default engine as xmltodict and
   ansible.builtin.assert:
-    that: "{{ output == item.test }}"
+    that: "{{ output == test_item.test }}"
   loop:
     - test: "{{ data | ansible.utils.from_xml() }}"
     - test: "{{ data | ansible.utils.from_xml('xmltodict') }}"
+  loop_control:
+    loop_var: test_item
 
 - name: Setup invalid xml as input to ansible.utils.from_xml.
   ansible.builtin.set_fact: