diff --git a/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/README.md b/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/README.md
index 10f5acd833be..2820f5e17884 100644
--- a/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/README.md
+++ b/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/README.md
@@ -1293,7 +1293,7 @@ Examples:
 The `RemoveXML` Converter returns an edited version of an XML string with selected elements removed.
 
 `target` is a Getter that returns a string. This string should be in XML format.
-If `target` is not a string, nil, or cannot be parsed as XML, `ParseXML` will return an error.
+If `target` is not a string, nil, or is not valid xml, `RemoveXML` will return an error.
 
 `xpath` is a string that specifies an [XPath](https://www.w3.org/TR/1999/REC-xpath-19991116/) expression that
 selects one or more elements to remove from the XML document.
diff --git a/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/func_remove_xml.go b/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/func_remove_xml.go
index f499be952748..bf12b09d9848 100644
--- a/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/func_remove_xml.go
+++ b/pkg/ottl/ottlfuncs/func_remove_xml.go
@@ -25,21 +25,21 @@ func NewRemoveXMLFactory[K any]() ottl.Factory[K] {
 
 func createRemoveXMLFunction[K any](_ ottl.FunctionContext, oArgs ottl.Arguments) (ottl.ExprFunc[K], error) {
 	args, ok := oArgs.(*RemoveXMLArguments[K])
-
 	if !ok {
 		return nil, fmt.Errorf("RemoveXML args must be of type *RemoveXMLAguments[K]")
 	}
 
+	if err := validateXPath(args.XPath); err != nil {
+		return nil, err
+	}
+
 	return removeXML(args.Target, args.XPath), nil
 }
 
-// removeXML returns a `pcommon.String` that is a result of removing all matching nodes from the target XML.
+// removeXML returns a XML formatted string that is a result of removing all matching nodes from the target XML.
 // This currently supports removal of elements, attributes, text values, comments, and CharData.
 func removeXML[K any](target ottl.StringGetter[K], xPath string) ottl.ExprFunc[K] {
 	return func(ctx context.Context, tCtx K) (any, error) {
-		if err := validateXPath(xPath); err != nil {
-			return nil, err
-		}
 
 		targetVal, err := target.Get(ctx, tCtx)
 		if err != nil {