diff --git a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/utilities.js b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/utilities.js
index fc95506c1..6d7984282 100644
--- a/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/utilities.js
+++ b/chrome/content/zotero/xpcom/utilities.js
@@ -982,6 +982,11 @@ Zotero.Utilities = {
 			}
 			
 			try {
+				if(!rootDoc.evaluate && typeof installXPathIfNecessary !== undefined) {
+					// For IE: element.ownerDocument will not have an evaluate property,
+					// since this is provided by JavaScript-XPath
+					installXPathIfNecessary('defaultView' in rootDoc ? rootDoc.defaultView : rootDoc.parentWindow);
+				}
 				var xpathObject = rootDoc.evaluate(xpath, element, nsResolver, 5, // 5 = ORDERED_NODE_ITERATOR_TYPE
 					null);
 			} catch(e) {