diff --git a/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/AbstractPsychoPathTest.java b/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/AbstractPsychoPathTest.java
index bdf94bb..73586b5 100644
--- a/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/AbstractPsychoPathTest.java
+++ b/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/AbstractPsychoPathTest.java
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@
  *     Jesper S Moller - bug 275610 - Avoid big time and memory overhead for externals
  *     Jesper Steen Moeller - bug 282096 - make test harness handle all string encoding
  *     Jesper Steen Moller  - bug 280555 - Add pluggable collation support
+ *     Mukul Gandhi         - bug 338494 - prohibiting xpath expressions starting with / or // to be parsed.
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.test;
 
@@ -277,8 +278,7 @@
 	   dynamicContext.add_namespace(null, uri);	
 	}
 
-	protected XPath compileXPath(DynamicContext dc, String xpath)
-			throws XPathParserException, StaticError {
+	protected XPath compileXPath(DynamicContext dc, String xpath) throws XPathParserException, StaticError {
 		XPathParser xpp = new JFlexCupParser();
 		XPath path = xpp.parse(xpath);
 
@@ -286,6 +286,21 @@
 		name_check.check(path);
 		return path;
 	}
+	
+	protected XPath compileXPath(DynamicContext dc, String xpath, boolean isRootlessAccess) throws XPathParserException, StaticError {
+       XPathParser xpp = new JFlexCupParser();
+       XPath path = null; 
+       if (isRootlessAccess) {
+          path = xpp.parse(xpath, isRootlessAccess);
+       }
+       else {
+    	   path = xpp.parse(xpath); 
+       }
+       
+       StaticChecker name_check = new StaticNameResolver(dc);
+       name_check.check(path);
+       return path;
+    }
 
 	protected String getExpectedResult(String xqFile) {
 		return getExpectedResult(xqFile, true);
diff --git a/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/TestBugs.java b/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/TestBugs.java
index 04617c7..ad647c5 100644
--- a/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/TestBugs.java
+++ b/tests/org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.tests/src/org/eclipse/wst/xml/xpath2/processor/test/TestBugs.java
@@ -49,7 +49,8 @@
  *                                 an user-defined variable.
  *  Mukul Gandhi    - bug 334478   implementation of xs:token data type
  *  Mukul Gandhi    - bug 334842 - improving support for the data types Name, NCName, ENTITY, 
- *                                 ID, IDREF and NMTOKEN.                                
+ *                                 ID, IDREF and NMTOKEN.
+ *  Mukul Gandhi    - bug 338494 - prohibiting xpath expressions starting with / or // to be parsed.                                
  *******************************************************************************/
 package org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.test;
 
@@ -70,6 +71,7 @@
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.Evaluator;
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.ResultSequence;
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.ResultSequenceFactory;
+import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.XPathParserException;
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.ast.XPath;
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.internal.types.QName;
 import org.eclipse.wst.xml.xpath2.processor.internal.types.XSBoolean;
@@ -97,6 +99,7 @@
 
 	}
 
+
 	public void testNamesWhichAreKeywords() throws Exception {
 		// Bug 273719
 		URL fileURL = bundle.getEntry("/bugTestFiles/bug311480.xml");
@@ -2038,6 +2041,113 @@
 		assertEquals("true", result.string_value());
 	}
 	
+	public void testBugXX() throws Exception {
+		bundle = Platform.getBundle("org.w3c.xqts.testsuite");
+		URL fileURL = bundle.getEntry("/TestSources/emptydoc.xml");
+		loadDOMDocument(fileURL);
+
+		// Get XML Schema Information for the Document
+		XSModel schema = getGrammar();
+
+		// set up XPath default namespace in Dynamic Context
+		DynamicContext dc = setupDynamicContext(schema);
+        dc.set_variable(new QName("value"), new XSString("2.5"));
+		addXPathDefaultNamespace("http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema");
+
+		String xpath = "$value castable as double";
+		XPath path = compileXPath(dc, xpath);
+
+		Evaluator eval = new DefaultEvaluator(dc, null);
+		ResultSequence rs = eval.evaluate(path);
+
+		XSBoolean result = (XSBoolean) rs.first();
+
+		String actual = result.string_value();
+
+		assertEquals("true", actual);
+	}
+	
+	public void testExprParsingBeginnigWithRootNode_bugXX() throws Exception {
+		// Bug ??
+		bundle = Platform.getBundle("org.w3c.xqts.testsuite");
+		URL fileURL = bundle.getEntry("/TestSources/emptydoc.xml");
+		loadDOMDocument(fileURL);
+
+		// Get XML Schema Information for the Document
+		XSModel schema = getGrammar();
+
+		DynamicContext dc = setupDynamicContext(schema);
+
+		// test a)
+		String xpath = "/x";
+		XPath path = null;
+		try {
+		    path = compileXPath(dc, xpath, true);
+		    // test fails
+		    assertTrue(false);
+		}
+		catch(XPathParserException ex) {
+			if ("Expression starts with / or //".equals(ex.getMessage())) {
+				// test passes
+				assertTrue(true);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		// test b)
+		xpath = "//x";
+		try {
+		    path = compileXPath(dc, xpath, true);
+		    // test fails
+		    assertTrue(false);
+		}
+		catch(XPathParserException ex) {
+			if ("Expression starts with / or //".equals(ex.getMessage())) {
+				// test passes
+				assertTrue(true);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		// test c)
+		xpath = "/";
+		try {
+		    path = compileXPath(dc, xpath, true);
+		    // test fails
+		    assertTrue(false);
+		}
+		catch(XPathParserException ex) {
+			if ("Expression starts with / or //".equals(ex.getMessage())) {
+				// test passes
+				assertTrue(true);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		// test d)
+		xpath = "x/y[/a]";
+		try {
+		    path = compileXPath(dc, xpath, true);
+		    // test fails
+		    assertTrue(false);
+		}
+		catch(XPathParserException ex) {
+			if ("Expression starts with / or //".equals(ex.getMessage())) {
+				// test passes
+				assertTrue(true);
+			}
+		}
+		
+		// test e)
+		xpath = ".//x";
+		try {
+		    path = compileXPath(dc, xpath, true);
+		    // test passes
+		    assertTrue(true);
+		}
+		catch(XPathParserException ex) {
+		   // test fails
+		   assertTrue(false);
+		}
+	}
+	
 	private CollationProvider createLengthCollatorProvider() {
 		return new CollationProvider() {
 			@SuppressWarnings("unchecked")