diff --git a/src/XAO/XaoUtils.cxx b/src/XAO/XaoUtils.cxx
index f0952140b..c61d6980c 100644
--- a/src/XAO/XaoUtils.cxx
+++ b/src/XAO/XaoUtils.cxx
@@ -70,7 +70,12 @@ const std::string XaoUtils::booleanToString(const bool& value)
 
 const bool XaoUtils::stringToBoolean(const std::string& value)
 {
-    return (value == std::string("true"));
+    if (value == "true" || value == "1")
+        return true;
+    if (value == "false" || value == "0")
+        return false;
+
+    throw SALOME_Exception(MsgBuilder() << "Invalid boolean value: " << value);
 }
 
 const std::string XaoUtils::dimensionToString(const XAO::Dimension& dimension)
diff --git a/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.cxx b/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.cxx
index 92e8f2f6d..37d12ce2a 100644
--- a/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.cxx
+++ b/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.cxx
@@ -19,6 +19,18 @@ void XaoUtilsTest::cleanUp()
 {
 }
 
+void XaoUtilsTest::testBoolean()
+{
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(std::string("true"), XaoUtils::booleanToString(true));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(std::string("false"), XaoUtils::booleanToString(false));
+
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(true, XaoUtils::stringToBoolean("true"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(true, XaoUtils::stringToBoolean("1"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(false, XaoUtils::stringToBoolean("false"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(false, XaoUtils::stringToBoolean("0"));
+    CPPUNIT_ASSERT_THROW(XaoUtils::stringToBoolean("abc"), SALOME_Exception);
+}
+
 void XaoUtilsTest::testInteger()
 {
     CPPUNIT_ASSERT_EQUAL(std::string("0"), XaoUtils::intToString(0));
diff --git a/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.hxx b/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.hxx
index d9926145e..b69c66cc0 100644
--- a/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.hxx
+++ b/src/XAO/tests/XaoUtilsTest.hxx
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ namespace XAO
     class XaoUtilsTest: public CppUnit::TestFixture
     {
         CPPUNIT_TEST_SUITE(XaoUtilsTest);
+        CPPUNIT_TEST(testBoolean);
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testInteger);
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testDouble);
         CPPUNIT_TEST(testDimension);
@@ -22,6 +23,7 @@ namespace XAO
         void tearDown();
         void cleanUp();
 
+        void testBoolean();
         void testInteger();
         void testDouble();
         void testDimension();