diff --git a/lib/internal/Magento/Framework/View/Model/Layout/Merge.php b/lib/internal/Magento/Framework/View/Model/Layout/Merge.php
index dbd6cc1ea548d..795e03bc8b40a 100644
--- a/lib/internal/Magento/Framework/View/Model/Layout/Merge.php
+++ b/lib/internal/Magento/Framework/View/Model/Layout/Merge.php
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 <?php
 /**
- * Copyright © Magento, Inc. All rights reserved.
- * See COPYING.txt for license details.
+ * Copyright 2011 Adobe
+ * All Rights Reserved.
  */
 namespace Magento\Framework\View\Model\Layout;
 
@@ -564,6 +564,21 @@ protected function _loadXmlString($xmlString)
         return simplexml_load_string($xmlString, \Magento\Framework\View\Layout\Element::class);
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Return object representation of XML string, or false, if XML was invalid
+     *
+     * @param string $xmlString
+     * @return \SimpleXMLElement|false
+     */
+    protected function _safeLoadXmlString(string $xmlString): \SimpleXMLElement|false
+    {
+        return simplexml_load_string(
+            $xmlString,
+            \Magento\Framework\View\Layout\Element::class,
+            LIBXML_NOWARNING | LIBXML_NOERROR
+        );
+    }
+
     /**
      * Merge layout update by handle
      *
@@ -988,15 +1003,7 @@ public function getCacheId()
     private function extractHandlers(): void
     {
         foreach ($this->updates as $update) {
-            $updateXml = null;
-
-            try {
-                $updateXml = is_string($update) ? $this->_loadXmlString($update) : false;
-                // phpcs:ignore Magento2.CodeAnalysis.EmptyBlock
-            } catch (\Exception $exception) {
-                // ignore invalid
-            }
-
+            $updateXml = is_string($update) ? $this->_safeLoadXmlString($update) : false;
             if ($updateXml && strtolower($updateXml->getName()) == 'update' && isset($updateXml['handle'])) {
                 $this->addHandle((string)$updateXml['handle']);
             }