diff --git a/lib/oga/xml/element.rb b/lib/oga/xml/element.rb
index 4947f98..13cdb50 100644
--- a/lib/oga/xml/element.rb
+++ b/lib/oga/xml/element.rb
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ module Oga
       end
 
       ##
-      # Returns the attribute of the given name.
+      # Returns an attribute matching the given name (with or without the
+      # namespace).
       #
       # @example
       #  # find an attribute that only has the name "foo"
@@ -64,8 +65,10 @@ module Oga
       #  # find an attribute with namespace "foo" and name bar"
       #  attribute('foo:bar')
       #
-      # @param [String] name
-      # @return [String]
+      # @param [String|Symbol] name The name (with or without the namespace)
+      #  of the attribute.
+      #
+      # @return [Oga::XML::Attribute]
       #
       def attribute(name)
         name, ns = split_name(name)
@@ -79,6 +82,20 @@ module Oga
 
       alias_method :attr, :attribute
 
+      ##
+      # Returns the value of the given attribute.
+      #
+      # @example
+      #  element.get('class') # => "container"
+      #
+      # @see [#attribute]
+      #
+      def get(name)
+        found = attribute(name)
+
+        return found ? found.value : nil
+      end
+
       ##
       # Returns the namespace of the element.
       #
diff --git a/spec/oga/xml/element_spec.rb b/spec/oga/xml/element_spec.rb
index 0dfc56a..764e710 100644
--- a/spec/oga/xml/element_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/oga/xml/element_spec.rb
@@ -89,6 +89,18 @@ describe Oga::XML::Element do
     end
   end
 
+  context '#get' do
+    before do
+      attr = Oga::XML::Attribute.new(:name => 'foo', :value => 'bar')
+
+      @element = described_class.new(:attributes => [attr])
+    end
+
+    example 'return the value of an attribute' do
+      @element.get('foo').should == 'bar'
+    end
+  end
+
   context '#namespace' do
     before do
       @namespace = Oga::XML::Namespace.new(:name => 'x')