diff --git a/wrangler-core/src/main/java/io/cdap/directives/xml/XmlToJson.java b/wrangler-core/src/main/java/io/cdap/directives/xml/XmlToJson.java
index 8a3ed89ff..513a54d17 100644
--- a/wrangler-core/src/main/java/io/cdap/directives/xml/XmlToJson.java
+++ b/wrangler-core/src/main/java/io/cdap/directives/xml/XmlToJson.java
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 import io.cdap.wrangler.api.parser.Numeric;
 import io.cdap.wrangler.api.parser.TokenType;
 import io.cdap.wrangler.api.parser.UsageDefinition;
+import org.apache.commons.lang.StringUtils;
 import org.json.JSONException;
 import org.json.XML;
 
@@ -52,9 +53,11 @@
 @Description("Parses a XML document to JSON representation.")
 public class XmlToJson implements Directive, Lineage {
   public static final String NAME = "parse-xml-to-json";
+  public static final String ARG_KEEP_STRING = "keep-string";
   // Column within the input row that needs to be parsed as Json
   private String col;
   private int depth;
+  private boolean keepString;
   private final Gson gson = new Gson();
 
   @Override
@@ -62,6 +65,7 @@ public UsageDefinition define() {
     UsageDefinition.Builder builder = UsageDefinition.builder(NAME);
     builder.define("column", TokenType.COLUMN_NAME);
     builder.define("depth", TokenType.NUMERIC, Optional.TRUE);
+    builder.define(ARG_KEEP_STRING, TokenType.BOOLEAN, Optional.TRUE);
     return builder.build();
   }
 
@@ -73,6 +77,12 @@ public void initialize(Arguments args) throws DirectiveParseException {
     } else {
       this.depth = Integer.MAX_VALUE;
     }
+
+    if (args.contains(ARG_KEEP_STRING) &&
+      StringUtils.isNotEmpty(args.value(ARG_KEEP_STRING).value().toString())) {
+      this.keepString = Boolean.parseBoolean(args.value(ARG_KEEP_STRING).value().toString());
+    }
+
   }
 
   @Override
@@ -93,7 +103,7 @@ public List<Row> execute(List<Row> rows, ExecutorContext context) throws Directi
 
         try {
           if (object instanceof String) {
-            JsonObject element = gson.fromJson(XML.toJSONObject((String) object).toString(),
+            JsonObject element = gson.fromJson(XML.toJSONObject((String) object, this.keepString).toString(),
                                                JsonElement.class).getAsJsonObject();
             JsParser.jsonFlatten(element, col, 1, depth, row);
             row.remove(idx);
diff --git a/wrangler-core/src/test/java/io/cdap/directives/parser/XmlToJsonTest.java b/wrangler-core/src/test/java/io/cdap/directives/parser/XmlToJsonTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2d08228a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/wrangler-core/src/test/java/io/cdap/directives/parser/XmlToJsonTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,54 @@
+/*
+ *  Copyright © 2024 Cask Data, Inc.
+ *
+ *  Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License"); you may not
+ *  use this file except in compliance with the License. You may obtain a copy of
+ *  the License at
+ *
+ *  http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ *  Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ *  distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS, WITHOUT
+ *  WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied. See the
+ *  License for the specific language governing permissions and limitations under
+ *  the License.
+ */
+
+package io.cdap.directives.parser;
+
+import io.cdap.directives.xml.XmlToJson;
+import io.cdap.wrangler.TestingRig;
+import io.cdap.wrangler.api.Row;
+import org.junit.Assert;
+import org.junit.Test;
+
+import java.util.Arrays;
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * Tests {@link XmlToJson}
+ */
+public class XmlToJsonTest {
+  @Test
+  public void testAutoConversionOfStringField() throws Exception {
+    String[] directives = new String[] {
+      "copy body body_1 true",
+      "copy body body_2 true",
+      "copy body body_3 true",
+      "parse-xml-to-json body_1 1",
+      "parse-xml-to-json body_2 1 false",
+      "parse-xml-to-json body_3 1 true"
+    };
+
+    List<Row> rows = Arrays.asList(
+      new Row("body",
+              "<?xml version=\"1.0\" encoding=\"UTF-8\" ?><Data><tagid>303246306303E8</tagid></Data>")
+    );
+
+    rows = TestingRig.execute(directives, rows);
+    Assert.assertEquals(1, rows.size());
+    Assert.assertEquals("{\"tagid\":3.03246306303E19}", rows.get(0).getValue("body_1_Data").toString());
+    Assert.assertEquals("{\"tagid\":3.03246306303E19}", rows.get(0).getValue("body_2_Data").toString());
+    Assert.assertEquals("{\"tagid\":\"303246306303E8\"}", rows.get(0).getValue("body_3_Data").toString());
+  }
+}
diff --git a/wrangler-docs/directives/parse-xml-to-json.md b/wrangler-docs/directives/parse-xml-to-json.md
index 031633786..beb136b0c 100644
--- a/wrangler-docs/directives/parse-xml-to-json.md
+++ b/wrangler-docs/directives/parse-xml-to-json.md
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ transforms the XML into a JSON document, simplifying further parsing using the
 
 ## Syntax
 ```
-parse-xml-to-json <column-name> [<depth>]
+parse-xml-to-json <column-name> [<depth>] [<keep-strings>]
 ```
 
 * `<column-name>` is the name of the column in the record that is an XML document.
 * `<depth>` indicates the depth at which the XML document parsing should terminate processing.
+* `<keep-strings>` An OPTIONAL boolean value that if true, then values will not be coerced into boolean or numeric values and will instead be left as strings. (as per `org.json.XML` rules)
+ The default value is `false`
 
 
 ## Usage Notes