diff --git a/.chronus/changes/fix-payload-xml-content-type-2026-02-03-08-23-21.md b/.chronus/changes/fix-payload-xml-content-type-2026-02-03-08-23-21.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..ae27da44ecd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.chronus/changes/fix-payload-xml-content-type-2026-02-03-08-23-21.md
@@ -0,0 +1,7 @@
+---
+changeKind: fix
+packages:
+  - "@typespec/http-specs"
+---
+
+Fix payload/xml XmlErrorValue response to wrap SimpleModel with content-type "application/xml" for consistency with XmlError
diff --git a/packages/http-specs/specs/payload/xml/main.tsp b/packages/http-specs/specs/payload/xml/main.tsp
index b280bbe9758..4beab6443f0 100644
--- a/packages/http-specs/specs/payload/xml/main.tsp
+++ b/packages/http-specs/specs/payload/xml/main.tsp
@@ -329,5 +329,8 @@ interface XmlErrorValue {
     ```
     """)
   @get
-  get(): SimpleModel | XmlError;
+  get(): {
+    @header("content-type") contentType: "application/xml";
+    @body body: SimpleModel;
+  } | XmlError;
 }