diff --git a/lib/nokogiri/xml/searchable.rb b/lib/nokogiri/xml/searchable.rb
index f1b720e4cf..75fafd77c0 100644
--- a/lib/nokogiri/xml/searchable.rb
+++ b/lib/nokogiri/xml/searchable.rb
@@ -261,7 +261,8 @@ def xpath_internal(node, paths, handler, ns, binds)
       end
 
       def xpath_impl(node, path, handler, ns, binds)
-        ctx = XPathContext.new(node)
+        ctx = get_xpath_context(node)
+
         ctx.register_namespaces(ns)
         ctx.register_variables(binds)
 
@@ -269,6 +270,10 @@ def xpath_impl(node, path, handler, ns, binds)
 
         ctx.evaluate(path, handler)
       end
+
+      def get_xpath_context(node)
+        XPathContext.new(node)
+      end
     end
   end
 end