diff --git a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/doc_gen_test.py b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/doc_gen_test.py
index 2ff205e..6e6aa72 100644
--- a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/doc_gen_test.py
+++ b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/doc_gen_test.py
@@ -12,7 +12,12 @@
 from .categories import Category, TitleInfo
 from .doc_gen import DocGen, DocGenEncoder
 from .metadata import Example
-from .metadata_errors import MetadataErrors, MetadataError, UnknownLanguage
+from .metadata_errors import (
+    MetadataErrors,
+    MetadataError,
+    UnknownLanguage,
+    ParseXMLError,
+)
 from .sdks import Sdk, SdkVersion
 from .services import Service, ServiceExpanded
 from .snippets import Snippet
@@ -304,3 +309,19 @@ def test_language_not_in_sdks():
     )
     doc_gen.process_metadata(doc_gen.root / "bad_language_example.yaml")
     assert isinstance(doc_gen.errors[0], UnknownLanguage)
+
+
+def test_invalid_xml():
+    errors = MetadataErrors()
+    doc_gen = DocGen(Path(), errors).for_root(
+        Path(__file__).parent / "test_resources", incremental=False
+    )
+    doc_gen.process_metadata(doc_gen.root / "invalid_xml_metadata.yaml")
+    assert doc_gen.errors
+    first_error, *_ = doc_gen.errors
+    assert isinstance(first_error, ParseXMLError)
+    assert (
+        first_error.value
+        == "<fake><para>Certain characters like < are invalid</para></fake>"
+    )
+    assert first_error.message() == "not well-formed (invalid token): line 1, column 37"
diff --git a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_errors.py b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_errors.py
index 7f1e924..59534d5 100644
--- a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_errors.py
+++ b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_errors.py
@@ -6,7 +6,16 @@
 import re
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
-from typing import Optional, Iterator, Iterable, List, TypeVar, Generic, Dict, Set
+from typing import (
+    Optional,
+    Iterator,
+    Iterable,
+    List,
+    TypeVar,
+    Generic,
+    Dict,
+    Set,
+)
 
 
 ErrorT = TypeVar("ErrorT")
@@ -108,6 +117,15 @@ def message(self) -> str:
         )
 
 
+@dataclass
+class ParseXMLError(MetadataError):
+    xml_err_message: Optional[str] = field(default=None)
+    value: Optional[str] = field(default=None)
+
+    def message(self) -> str:
+        return f"{self.xml_err_message}"
+
+
 @dataclass
 class MetadataParseError(MetadataError):
     id: Optional[str] = None
diff --git a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_validator.py b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_validator.py
index 5c91198..81f00e5 100755
--- a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_validator.py
+++ b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/metadata_validator.py
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env python3
 # Copyright Amazon.com, Inc. or its affiliates. All Rights Reserved.
 # SPDX-License-Identifier: Apache-2.0
 
@@ -18,6 +17,7 @@
 from dataclasses import dataclass, field
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import Any, Dict, Iterable, List, Optional, Set
+from xml.etree.ElementTree import ParseError
 
 import yamale  # type: ignore
 from yamale import YamaleError  # type: ignore
@@ -29,6 +29,12 @@
 )
 
 
+class ElementTreeParseError(ParseError):
+    def __init__(self, message: str, raw: str):
+        super().__init__(message)
+        self.raw = raw
+
+
 class SdkVersion(Validator):
     """Validate that sdk version appears in sdks.yaml."""
 
@@ -163,11 +169,11 @@ def _validate_aws_entity_usage(value: str) -> bool:
         If these counts differ, there's an invalid usage.
         """
         xval = value.replace("&", "&amp;")
+        xml_str = f"<fake><para>{xval}</para></fake>"
         try:
-            xtree = xml_tree.fromstring(f"<fake><para>{xval}</para></fake>")
-        except Exception as e:
-            print(xval)
-            raise e
+            xtree = xml_tree.fromstring(xml_str)
+        except ParseError as e:
+            raise ElementTreeParseError(message=f"{e}", raw=xml_str) from e
         blocks = (
             xtree.findall(".//programlisting")
             + xtree.findall(".//code")
diff --git a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/test_resources/invalid_xml_metadata.yaml b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/test_resources/invalid_xml_metadata.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..451b1bd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/test_resources/invalid_xml_metadata.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+medical-imaging_TestExample:
+  title: Certain characters like < are invalid
+  title_abbrev: Check whether a phone number is opted out
+  synopsis: check whether a phone number is opted out using some of the &AWS; SDKs that are available.
+  synopsis_list:
+    - Check the one thing.
+    - Do some other thing.
+  category: Usage
+  guide_topic:
+    title: Test guide topic title
+    url: test-guide/url
+  languages:
+    Java:
+      versions:
+        - sdk_version: 2
+          github: test_path
+          block_content: test block
+    JavaScript:
+      versions:
+        - sdk_version: 3
+          github_note_at_bottom: true
+          excerpts:
+            - description: Descriptive
+              genai: some
+              snippet_tags:
+                - medical-imaging.JavaScript.datastore.createDatastoreV3
+    PHP:
+      versions:
+        - sdk_version: 3
+          sdkguide: php/sdkguide/link
+          excerpts:
+            - description: Optional description.
+              snippet_tags:
+                - php.snippet.tag.1
+                - php.snippet.tag.2
+              snippet_files:
+                - snippet_file.txt
+  services:
+    medical-imaging:
diff --git a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/yaml_mapper.py b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/yaml_mapper.py
index d2bbef3..9db1166 100644
--- a/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/yaml_mapper.py
+++ b/aws_doc_sdk_examples_tools/yaml_mapper.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 from . import metadata_errors
 from .metadata_errors import MetadataErrors, DuplicateItemException, MetadataParseError
 from .project_validator import ValidationConfig
-from .metadata_validator import StringExtension
+from .metadata_validator import StringExtension, ElementTreeParseError
 
 
 CATEGORY_REQUIRED_FIELDS = {"IAMPolicy": {"version": {"authors", "owner", "source"}}}
@@ -156,13 +156,23 @@ def get_field(
         return ""
 
     checker = StringExtension(check_aws=check_aws)
-    if not checker.is_valid(field):
+    try:
+        if not checker.is_valid(field):
+            errors.append(
+                metadata_errors.AwsNotEntity(
+                    field=name, value=field, check_err=checker.get_name()
+                )
+            )
+            return ""
+    except ElementTreeParseError as e:
         errors.append(
-            metadata_errors.AwsNotEntity(
-                field=name, value=field, check_err=checker.get_name()
+            metadata_errors.ParseXMLError(
+                xml_err_message=e.msg,
+                value=e.raw,
             )
         )
         return ""
+
     return field