diff --git a/Source/cmXMLWriter.cxx b/Source/cmXMLWriter.cxx
index f9b3b491c..ab9939afe 100644
--- a/Source/cmXMLWriter.cxx
+++ b/Source/cmXMLWriter.cxx
@@ -67,6 +67,13 @@ void cmXMLWriter::EndElement()
   this->ElementOpen = false;
 }
 
+void cmXMLWriter::Element(const char* name)
+{
+  this->CloseStartElement();
+  this->ConditionalLineBreak(!this->IsContent, this->Elements.size());
+  this->Output << '<' << name << "/>";
+}
+
 void cmXMLWriter::BreakAttributes()
 {
   this->BreakAttrib = true;
diff --git a/Source/cmXMLWriter.h b/Source/cmXMLWriter.h
index c38c0deb7..c839a6237 100644
--- a/Source/cmXMLWriter.h
+++ b/Source/cmXMLWriter.h
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ public:
     this->Output << name << "=\"" << SafeAttribute(value) << '"';
     }
 
+  void Element(const char* name);
+
   template <typename T>
   void Element(std::string const& name, T const& value)
     {