diff --git a/source/graphics/MapGenerator.cpp b/source/graphics/MapGenerator.cpp
index 9765039ce4..799b746129 100644
--- a/source/graphics/MapGenerator.cpp
+++ b/source/graphics/MapGenerator.cpp
@@ -248,7 +248,7 @@ void CMapGeneratorWorker::SetProgress(int progress)
 
 CParamNode CMapGeneratorWorker::GetTemplate(const std::string& templateName)
 {
-	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetChild("Entity");
+	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetOnlyChild();
 	if (!templateRoot.IsOk())
 		LOGERROR("Invalid template found for '%s'", templateName.c_str());
 
diff --git a/source/gui/GUIManager.cpp b/source/gui/GUIManager.cpp
index 055421c119..de775a4dfd 100644
--- a/source/gui/GUIManager.cpp
+++ b/source/gui/GUIManager.cpp
@@ -415,7 +415,7 @@ bool CGUIManager::TemplateExists(const std::string& templateName) const
 
 const CParamNode& CGUIManager::GetTemplate(const std::string& templateName)
 {
-	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetChild("Entity");
+	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetOnlyChild();
 	if (!templateRoot.IsOk())
 		LOGERROR("Invalid template found for '%s'", templateName.c_str());
 
diff --git a/source/ps/GameSetup/GameSetup.cpp b/source/ps/GameSetup/GameSetup.cpp
index c7cc396490..5f1981ccc9 100644
--- a/source/ps/GameSetup/GameSetup.cpp
+++ b/source/ps/GameSetup/GameSetup.cpp
@@ -787,7 +787,7 @@ CParamNode GetTemplate(const std::string& templateName)
 	// This is very cheap to create so let's just do it every time.
 	CTemplateLoader templateLoader;
 
-	const CParamNode& templateRoot = templateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetChild("Entity");
+	const CParamNode& templateRoot = templateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetOnlyChild();
 	if (!templateRoot.IsOk())
 		LOGERROR("Invalid template found for '%s'", templateName.c_str());
 
diff --git a/source/simulation2/components/CCmpAIManager.cpp b/source/simulation2/components/CCmpAIManager.cpp
index 195016517f..b56037faa1 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/components/CCmpAIManager.cpp
+++ b/source/simulation2/components/CCmpAIManager.cpp
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ public:
 	{
 		if (!m_TemplateLoader.TemplateExists(name))
 			return CParamNode(false);
-		return m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(name).GetChild("Entity");
+		return m_TemplateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(name).GetOnlyChild();
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/source/simulation2/components/CCmpTemplateManager.cpp b/source/simulation2/components/CCmpTemplateManager.cpp
index 01bca05124..6ad5b560ca 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/components/CCmpTemplateManager.cpp
+++ b/source/simulation2/components/CCmpTemplateManager.cpp
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ const CParamNode* CCmpTemplateManager::GetTemplate(const std::string& templateNa
 			return NULL;
 	}
 
-	const CParamNode& templateRoot = fileData.GetChild("Entity");
+	const CParamNode& templateRoot = fileData.GetOnlyChild();
 	if (!templateRoot.IsOk())
 	{
 		// The validator should never let this happen
@@ -183,7 +183,7 @@ const CParamNode* CCmpTemplateManager::GetTemplate(const std::string& templateNa
 
 const CParamNode* CCmpTemplateManager::GetTemplateWithoutValidation(const std::string& templateName)
 {
-	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_templateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetChild("Entity");
+	const CParamNode& templateRoot = m_templateLoader.GetTemplateFileData(templateName).GetOnlyChild();
 	if (!templateRoot.IsOk())
 		return NULL;
 
diff --git a/source/simulation2/system/ComponentManager.cpp b/source/simulation2/system/ComponentManager.cpp
index 81d316f254..421bbc2f6c 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/system/ComponentManager.cpp
+++ b/source/simulation2/system/ComponentManager.cpp
@@ -1148,7 +1148,8 @@ std::string CComponentManager::GenerateSchema() const
 	std::sort(componentTypes.begin(), componentTypes.end());
 	schema +=
 		"<start>"
-			"<element name='Entity'>"
+			"<element>"
+				"<anyName/>"
 				"<optional><attribute name='parent'/></optional>";
 	for (std::vector<std::string>::const_iterator it = componentTypes.begin(); it != componentTypes.end(); ++it)
 		schema += "<optional><ref name='component." + *it + "'/></optional>";
diff --git a/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.cpp b/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.cpp
index 84163ed23e..a136421c50 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.cpp
+++ b/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.cpp
@@ -241,6 +241,15 @@ void CParamNode::ApplyLayer(const XMBData& xmb, const XMBElement& element, const
 	}
 }
 
+const CParamNode& CParamNode::GetOnlyChild() const
+{
+	if (m_Childs.empty())
+		return g_NullNode;
+
+	ENSURE(m_Childs.size() == 1);
+	return m_Childs.begin()->second;
+}
+
 const CParamNode& CParamNode::GetChild(const char* name) const
 {
 	ChildrenMap::const_iterator it = m_Childs.find(name);
diff --git a/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.h b/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.h
index 06be0d783b..acd0ae0736 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.h
+++ b/source/simulation2/system/ParamNode.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2021 Wildfire Games.
+/* Copyright (C) 2022 Wildfire Games.
  * This file is part of 0 A.D.
  *
  * 0 A.D. is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -190,6 +190,12 @@ public:
 	// (Children are returned as const in order to allow future optimisations, where we assume
 	// a node is always modified explicitly and not indirectly via its children, e.g. to cache JS::Values)
 
+	/**
+	 * Returns the only child node, or a node with IsOk() == false if there is none.
+	 * This is mainly useful for the root node.
+	 */
+	const CParamNode& GetOnlyChild() const;
+
 	/**
 	 * Returns true if this is a valid CParamNode, false if it represents a non-existent node
 	 */
diff --git a/source/simulation2/tests/test_ParamNode.h b/source/simulation2/tests/test_ParamNode.h
index 02c182b615..e9dd7564f2 100644
--- a/source/simulation2/tests/test_ParamNode.h
+++ b/source/simulation2/tests/test_ParamNode.h
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-/* Copyright (C) 2021 Wildfire Games.
+/* Copyright (C) 2022 Wildfire Games.
  * This file is part of 0 A.D.
  *
  * 0 A.D. is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ public:
 		TS_ASSERT_EQUALS(node.GetChild("test").GetChild("Bar").GetChild("Baz").ToInt(), 3);
 		TS_ASSERT(node.GetChild("test").GetChild("Qux").IsOk());
 		TS_ASSERT(!node.GetChild("test").GetChild("Qux").GetChild("Baz").IsOk());
+		TS_ASSERT_STR_EQUALS(node.GetChild("test").ToXMLString(), node.GetOnlyChild().ToXMLString());
 
 		CParamNode nullOne(false);
 		CParamNode nullTwo = nullOne;