diff --git a/driver/netconf/message.go b/driver/netconf/message.go
index 323ef70..102c9fc 100644
--- a/driver/netconf/message.go
+++ b/driver/netconf/message.go
@@ -12,21 +12,25 @@ type message struct {
 	Payload   interface{} `xml:",innerxml"`
 }
 
-func (m *message) serialize(v string) ([]byte, error) {
-	message, err := xml.Marshal(m)
+func (m *message) serialize(v string, forceSelfClosingTags bool) ([]byte, error) {
+	msg, err := xml.Marshal(m)
 	if err != nil {
 		return nil, err
 	}
 
-	message = append([]byte(xmlHeader), message...)
+	msg = append([]byte(xmlHeader), msg...)
+
+	if forceSelfClosingTags {
+		msg = ForceSelfClosingTags(msg)
+	}
 
 	switch v {
 	case V1Dot0:
-		message = append(message, []byte(v1Dot0Delim)...)
+		msg = append(msg, []byte(v1Dot0Delim)...)
 	case V1Dot1:
-		message = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("#%d\n", len(message))), message...)
-		message = append(message, []byte("\n##")...)
+		msg = append([]byte(fmt.Sprintf("#%d\n", len(msg))), msg...)
+		msg = append(msg, []byte("\n##")...)
 	}
 
-	return message, nil
+	return msg, nil
 }
diff --git a/driver/netconf/rpc.go b/driver/netconf/rpc.go
index 0cf0e0d..ee0d257 100644
--- a/driver/netconf/rpc.go
+++ b/driver/netconf/rpc.go
@@ -43,15 +43,13 @@ func (d *Driver) sendRPC(
 	m *message,
 	op *OperationOptions,
 ) (*response.NetconfResponse, error) {
-	b, err := m.serialize(d.SelectedVersion)
-	if err != nil {
-		return nil, err
-	}
-
 	if d.ForceSelfClosingTags {
 		d.Logger.Debug("ForceSelfClosingTags is true, enforcing...")
+	}
 
-		b = ForceSelfClosingTags(b)
+	b, err := m.serialize(d.SelectedVersion, d.ForceSelfClosingTags)
+	if err != nil {
+		return nil, err
 	}
 
 	d.Logger.Debugf("sending finalized rpc payload:\n%s", string(b))