diff --git a/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandler.java b/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandler.java
index b0333faf..396223ef 100644
--- a/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandler.java
+++ b/metafacture-biblio/src/main/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandler.java
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@
  * @author Markus Michael Geipel
  *
  */
-@Description("A MARC XML reader. To read marc data without namespace specification set option `namespace=\"\"`")
+@Description("A MARC XML reader. To read marc data without namespace specification set option `namespace=\"\"`. To ignore namespace specification set option `ignorenamespace=\"true\".")
 @In(XmlReceiver.class)
 @Out(StreamReceiver.class)
 @FluxCommand("handle-marcxml")
@@ -70,6 +70,19 @@ public void setNamespace(final String namespace) {
         this.namespace = namespace;
     }
 
+    /**
+     * Sets whether to ignore the namespace.
+     *
+     * <strong>Default value: false</strong>
+     *
+     * @param ignoreNamespace true if the namespace should be ignored
+     */
+    public void setIgnoreNamespace(final boolean ignoreNamespace) {
+        if (ignoreNamespace) {
+            this.namespace = null;
+        }
+    }
+
     private boolean checkNamespace(final String uri) {
         return namespace == null || namespace.equals(uri);
     }
diff --git a/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandlerTest.java b/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandlerTest.java
index 8a9f8c86..7521e2b3 100644
--- a/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandlerTest.java
+++ b/metafacture-biblio/src/test/java/org/metafacture/biblio/marc21/MarcXmlHandlerTest.java
@@ -146,6 +146,63 @@ public void issue330ShouldOptionallyRecognizeRecordsWithoutNamespace()
         verifyNoMoreInteractions(receiver);
     }
 
+    @Test
+    public void shouldRecognizeRecordsWithoutNamespace()
+        throws SAXException {
+        final AttributesImpl attributes = new AttributesImpl();
+
+        marcXmlHandler.setNamespace("");
+        marcXmlHandler.startElement("", RECORD, "", attributes);
+        marcXmlHandler.endElement("", RECORD, "");
+
+        verify(receiver).startRecord("");
+        verify(receiver).literal(TYPE, null);
+        verify(receiver).endRecord();
+
+        verifyNoMoreInteractions(receiver);
+    }
+    @Test
+    public void shouldNotRecognizeRecordsWithNamespaceWhenOptionallyWithoutNamespace()
+        throws SAXException {
+        final AttributesImpl attributes = new AttributesImpl();
+
+        marcXmlHandler.setNamespace("");
+        marcXmlHandler.startElement(NAMESPACE, RECORD, "", attributes);
+        marcXmlHandler.endElement(NAMESPACE, RECORD, "");
+
+        verifyNoMoreInteractions(receiver);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void issue569ShouldRecognizeRecordsWithAndWithoutNamespace()
+        throws SAXException {
+        final AttributesImpl attributes = new AttributesImpl();
+
+        marcXmlHandler.setIgnoreNamespace(true);
+        marcXmlHandler.startElement(null, RECORD, "", attributes);
+        marcXmlHandler.endElement(NAMESPACE, RECORD, "");
+
+        verify(receiver).startRecord("");
+        verify(receiver).literal(TYPE, null);
+        verify(receiver).endRecord();
+
+        verifyNoMoreInteractions(receiver);
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    public void issue569ShouldNotRecognizeRecordsWithAndWithoutNamespace()
+        throws SAXException {
+        final AttributesImpl attributes = new AttributesImpl();
+
+        marcXmlHandler.setIgnoreNamespace(false);
+        marcXmlHandler.startElement(null, RECORD, "", attributes);
+        marcXmlHandler.endElement(NAMESPACE, RECORD, "");
+
+        verify(receiver).endRecord();
+
+        verifyNoMoreInteractions(receiver);
+    }
+
     @Test
     public void shouldNotEncodeTypeAttributeAsMarkedLiteral() throws SAXException {
         final AttributesImpl attributes = new AttributesImpl();