diff --git a/api/src/main/java/javax/jdo/JDOHelper.java b/api/src/main/java/javax/jdo/JDOHelper.java
index c0bb0385..ab17ab92 100644
--- a/api/src/main/java/javax/jdo/JDOHelper.java
+++ b/api/src/main/java/javax/jdo/JDOHelper.java
@@ -1153,7 +1153,7 @@ protected static DocumentBuilderFactory getDefaultDocumentBuilderFactory() {
     factory.setNamespaceAware(true);
     factory.setValidating(false);
     factory.setIgnoringElementContentWhitespace(true);
-    factory.setExpandEntityReferences(true);
+    factory.setExpandEntityReferences(false);
 
     return factory;
   }