diff --git a/tests/test_xml_parser.py b/tests/test_xml_parser.py
index beb811807e..c03b00eb8b 100644
--- a/tests/test_xml_parser.py
+++ b/tests/test_xml_parser.py
@@ -101,6 +101,17 @@ def test_parse_answer_from_string_completion(self, xml_parser):
             result == "45"
         )  # Should return just the last answer, not a full parse() namespace
 
+    def test_parse_answer_from_message_completion_uses_last_answer(self, xml_parser):
+        """Test extracting the last answer from a message completion."""
+        completion = [
+            {
+                "role": "assistant",
+                "content": "<answer>44</answer><reasoning>Actually, that's not right either.</reasoning><answer>45</answer>",
+            }
+        ]
+        result = xml_parser.parse_answer(completion)
+        assert result == "45"
+
     def test_parse_answer_no_answer_field(self, xml_parser):
         """Test parse_answer when no answer field is found."""
         completion = [
diff --git a/verifiers/legacy/parsers/xml_parser.py b/verifiers/legacy/parsers/xml_parser.py
index 1cd14861b5..7d353e9e41 100644
--- a/verifiers/legacy/parsers/xml_parser.py
+++ b/verifiers/legacy/parsers/xml_parser.py
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ def parse_answer(self, completion: Messages) -> str | None:
                     if isinstance(msg, dict)
                     else (msg.content or "")
                 )
-                parsed = self.parse(content)
+                parsed = self.parse(content, last=True)
                 if (
                     parsed
                     and hasattr(parsed, self.answer_field)