diff --git a/spec/std/xml/xml_spec.cr b/spec/std/xml/xml_spec.cr
index 385f466442ab..2f1131943d00 100644
--- a/spec/std/xml/xml_spec.cr
+++ b/spec/std/xml/xml_spec.cr
@@ -96,6 +96,50 @@ describe XML do
     person["id"].should eq("1")
   end
 
+  it "sets node attributes" do
+    doc = XML.parse(<<-XML
+      <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+      <person id="1">
+        <name>John</name>
+      </person>
+      XML
+    )
+    person = doc.root.not_nil!
+    person.name.should eq("person")
+    person["id"].should eq "1"
+    person["id"] = "one"
+    person["id"].should eq "one"
+    person["id2"]?.should eq nil
+    person["id2"] = "two"
+    person["id2"].should eq "two"
+    person_s = person.to_s
+    person_s.index("id=\"one\"").should_not eq nil
+    person_s.index("id2=\"two\"").should_not eq nil
+  end
+
+  it "deletes node attributes" do
+    doc = XML.parse(<<-XML
+      <?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8'?>
+      <person id="1">
+        <name>John</name>
+      </person>
+      XML
+    )
+    person = doc.root.not_nil!
+    person.name.should eq("person")
+    person["id"].should eq "1"
+    person.delete("id")
+    person["id"]?.should eq nil
+    person["id2"] = "2"
+    deleted_attribute = person.delete("id2")
+    deleted_attribute.should eq "2"
+    deleted_attribute = person.delete("id2")
+    deleted_attribute.should eq nil
+    person_s = person.to_s
+    person_s.index("id=").should eq nil
+    person_s.index("id2=").should eq nil
+  end
+
   it "raises exception on empty string" do
     expect_raises XML::Error, "Document is empty" do
       XML.parse("")
diff --git a/src/xml/attributes.cr b/src/xml/attributes.cr
index a259aa9b2594..52dbd23486e7 100644
--- a/src/xml/attributes.cr
+++ b/src/xml/attributes.cr
@@ -37,6 +37,23 @@ struct XML::Attributes
     find { |node| node.name == name }
   end
 
+  def delete(name : String)
+    curr = LibXML.xmlHasProp(@node, name)
+    return nil if curr.null?
+    content = Node.new(curr).content
+    LibXML.xmlRemoveProp(curr)
+    content
+  end
+
+  def []=(name : String, value : String)
+    curr = self[name]?
+    if curr
+      curr.content = value
+    else
+      LibXML.xmlNewProp(@node, name, value)
+    end
+  end
+
   def each : Nil
     return unless @node.element?
 
diff --git a/src/xml/libxml2.cr b/src/xml/libxml2.cr
index ec37ea677479..4e64b690c1ae 100644
--- a/src/xml/libxml2.cr
+++ b/src/xml/libxml2.cr
@@ -121,6 +121,10 @@ lib LibXML
   fun xmlXPathNodeSetCreate(node : Node*) : NodeSet*
   fun xmlXPathNodeSetAddUnique(cur : NodeSet*, val : Node*) : Int
   fun xmlNodeGetContent(node : Node*) : UInt8*
+
+  fun xmlNewProp(node : Node*, name : UInt8*, value : UInt8*) : Attr*
+  fun xmlHasProp(node : Node*, name : UInt8*) : Attr*
+  fun xmlRemoveProp(cur : Attr*) : Int
   fun xmlNodeSetContent(node : Node*, content : UInt8*)
   fun xmlNodeSetName(node : Node*, name : UInt8*)
 
diff --git a/src/xml/node.cr b/src/xml/node.cr
index ebbd0395f6ff..7de91d233bb8 100644
--- a/src/xml/node.cr
+++ b/src/xml/node.cr
@@ -25,6 +25,18 @@ struct XML::Node
     attributes[attribute].content || raise(KeyError.new("Missing attribute: #{attribute}"))
   end
 
+  # sets *attribute* of this node to *value*. Raises `XML::Error` if this node does not support attributes.
+  def []=(name : String, value : String)
+    raise XML::Error.new("Can't set attribute of #{type}", 0) unless element?
+    attributes[name] = value
+  end
+
+  # Deletes attribute given by *name*.
+  # Returns attributes value, or `nil` if attribute not found.
+  def delete(name : String)
+    attributes.delete(name)
+  end
+
   # Gets the attribute content for the *attribute* given by name. Returns `nil` if attribute is not found.
   def []?(attribute : String) : String?
     attributes[attribute]?.try &.content