diff --git a/src/chatstates.rs b/src/chatstates.rs
index ecbecdffc4135dbfe7b50aa68aafbb57a9e5402e..995cd11e0a11ccb42f63f79689b0e85634c33c69 100644
--- a/src/chatstates.rs
+++ b/src/chatstates.rs
@@ -38,15 +38,9 @@ impl TryFrom<Element> for ChatState {
     type Err = Error;
 
     fn try_from(elem: Element) -> Result<ChatState, Error> {
-        if !elem.has_ns(ns::CHATSTATES) {
-            return Err(Error::ParseError("This is not a chatstate element."));
-        }
-        for _ in elem.children() {
-            return Err(Error::ParseError("Unknown child in chatstate element."));
-        }
-        for _ in elem.attrs() {
-            return Err(Error::ParseError("Unknown attribute in chatstate element."));
-        }
+        check_ns_only!(elem, "chatstate", ns::CHATSTATES);
+        check_no_children!(elem, "chatstate");
+        check_no_unknown_attributes!(elem, "chatstate", []);
         Ok(match elem.name() {
             "active" => ChatState::Active,
             "composing" => ChatState::Composing,
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index 9f3b80bb68bf3c236f70389899fc48bda272dfd2..5b52da0564111cd31c848590aa8ab549ab98ee6a 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -138,6 +138,14 @@ macro_rules! check_self {
     );
 }
 
+macro_rules! check_ns_only {
+    ($elem:ident, $name:tt, $ns:expr) => (
+        if !$elem.has_ns($ns) {
+            return Err(Error::ParseError(concat!("This is not a ", $name, " element.")));
+        }
+    );
+}
+
 macro_rules! check_no_children {
     ($elem:ident, $name:tt) => (
         for _ in $elem.children() {