XmlException: Root element is missing (but it's not) - vb.net

Question

I have a VB.Net 4.7.2 desktop application that is throwing an exception occasionally. The exception is usually, "Root element is missing".
When this happens, I am able to view the file after the fact and the root element is there.
The file is written to the share by a remote Linux system and is accessed by this application using an SMB share.
I thought there might be a timing issue with the file being written to the share, so I implemented a retry and I still get the same exception after trying 3 times, 10 seconds apart.
The xmlPath is passed in as a parameter.
' xmlPath is the UNC path to a local network share.
Dim xmlDoc As New XmlDocument()
xmlDoc.Load(xmlPath)
When I view the XML file at the file location, here's what I see.
<reportrequest Version="1.0">
<report ReportGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" ReportCode="LENDPG_1" ABSReportCode="" Title="Lender Portal Collateral Screen Basic" Description="CS Basic Report" Price="0">
<account AccountNumber="6551198" Address="000 Main St" City="Spokane" State="WA" ZipCode="99201" />
<contact FirstName="Person" LastName="Ordering" Email="person#domain.com" Phone="000-000-0000" />
<outputtypecoll>
<outputtype Type="XML" FileName="" />
</outputtypecoll>
<featurecoll>
<feature Name="CSRDISTANCE" Value="false" />
<feature Name="CSRDBSTATUS" Value="false" />
<feature Name="CSRELEVATION" Value="false" />
<feature Name="FINDTP" Value="TRUE" />
<feature Name="DETAILS" Value="TRUE" />
</featurecoll>
<targetpropertycoll>
<targetproperty SiteIndex="0" PropertyGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" ExternalPropertyGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" MonitoringGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" PortfolioGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" OrderGUID="xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx" PropertyName="My Property" Address="1 Wherever Ave" City="Sometown" State="CA" ZipCode="99999" Latitude="30.111111" Longitude="-110.88888">
<georeferenced Address="My Property" City="Sometown" State="CA" ZipCode="99999" Latitude="30.111111" Longitude="-110.88888" Fips="" County="" PostalCity="" />
<searchdistancecoll SetID="0000" SetName="LendPort Collateral" MaxDistance="5280" />
<edrdatacoll>
<edrdata Name="REPORTCOST" Value="0.00" />
<edrdata Name="BORROWER" Value="" />
<edrdata Name="LOANTYPE" Value="Other" />
<edrdata Name="LOANNUMBER" Value="" />
<edrdata Name="PROPERTYTYPE" Value="" />
<edrdata Name="DESTHOST" Value="www.xxxxxxxxxxx.com" />
</edrdatacoll>
</targetproperty>
</targetpropertycoll>
</report>
</reportrequest>
This certainly has a root element.
What can be causing this seemingly bogus exception?

Answer 1

Try adding this as the first line of the file
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
EDIT:
Change this
Dim xmlDoc As New XmlDocument()
xmlDoc.Load(xmlPath)
to this
Dim xmlDoc As New XmlDocument()
Try
xmlDoc.Load(xmlPath)
Catch ex As Exception
Dim xe As XElement
xe = XElement.Load(xmlPath)
Stop
End Try