diff --git a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/base.py b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/base.py
--- a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/base.py
+++ b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/base.py
@@ -6,8 +6,10 @@
 import json
 import logging
 from typing import Any, Callable, Dict, List, Optional, Tuple, TypeVar
+import xml.parsers.expat
 
 from typing_extensions import TypedDict
+import xmltodict
 import yaml
 
 from swh.indexer.codemeta import compact, merge_values
@@ -159,7 +161,7 @@
 
         return simple_terms | complex_terms
 
-    def _translate_dict(self, content_dict: Dict) -> Dict[str, str]:
+    def _translate_dict(self, content_dict: Dict) -> Dict[str, Any]:
         """
         Translates content  by parsing content from a dict object
         and translating with the appropriate mapping
@@ -249,6 +251,40 @@
         return None
 
 
+class XmlMapping(DictMapping):
+    """Base class for all mappings that use XML data as input."""
+
+    def translate(self, raw_content: bytes) -> Optional[Dict]:
+        """
+        Translates content by parsing content from a bytestring containing
+        XML data and translating with the appropriate mapping
+
+        Args:
+            raw_content (bytes): raw content to translate
+
+        Returns:
+            dict: translated metadata in json-friendly form needed for
+            the indexer
+
+        """
+        try:
+            d = xmltodict.parse(raw_content)
+        except xml.parsers.expat.ExpatError:
+            self.log.warning("Error parsing XML from %s", self.log_suffix)
+            return None
+        except UnicodeDecodeError:
+            self.log.warning("Error unidecoding XML from %s", self.log_suffix)
+            return None
+        except (LookupError, ValueError):
+            # unknown encoding or multi-byte encoding
+            self.log.warning("Error detecting XML encoding from %s", self.log_suffix)
+            return None
+        if not isinstance(d, dict):
+            self.log.warning("Skipping ill-formed XML content: %s", raw_content)
+            return None
+        return self._translate_dict(d)
+
+
 class SafeLoader(yaml.SafeLoader):
     yaml_implicit_resolvers = {
         k: [r for r in v if r[0] != "tag:yaml.org,2002:timestamp"]
diff --git a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/maven.py b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/maven.py
--- a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/maven.py
+++ b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/maven.py
@@ -4,18 +4,15 @@
 # See top-level LICENSE file for more information
 
 import os
-from typing import Any, Dict, Optional
-import xml.parsers.expat
-
-import xmltodict
+from typing import Any, Dict
 
 from swh.indexer.codemeta import CROSSWALK_TABLE
 from swh.indexer.namespaces import SCHEMA
 
-from .base import DictMapping, SingleFileIntrinsicMapping
+from .base import SingleFileIntrinsicMapping, XmlMapping
 
 
-class MavenMapping(DictMapping, SingleFileIntrinsicMapping):
+class MavenMapping(XmlMapping, SingleFileIntrinsicMapping):
     """
     dedicated class for Maven (pom.xml) mapping and translation
     """
@@ -25,26 +22,11 @@
     mapping = CROSSWALK_TABLE["Java (Maven)"]
     string_fields = ["name", "version", "description", "email"]
 
-    def translate(self, content: bytes) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
-        try:
-            d = xmltodict.parse(content).get("project") or {}
-        except xml.parsers.expat.ExpatError:
-            self.log.warning("Error parsing XML from %s", self.log_suffix)
-            return None
-        except UnicodeDecodeError:
-            self.log.warning("Error unidecoding XML from %s", self.log_suffix)
-            return None
-        except (LookupError, ValueError):
-            # unknown encoding or multi-byte encoding
-            self.log.warning("Error detecting XML encoding from %s", self.log_suffix)
-            return None
-        if not isinstance(d, dict):
-            self.log.warning("Skipping ill-formed XML content: %s", content)
-            return None
-        return self._translate_dict(d)
-
     _default_repository = {"url": "https://repo.maven.apache.org/maven2/"}
 
+    def _translate_dict(self, d: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        return super()._translate_dict(d.get("project") or {})
+
     def extra_translation(self, translated_metadata, d):
         repositories = self.parse_repositories(d)
         if repositories:
diff --git a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/nuget.py b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/nuget.py
--- a/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/nuget.py
+++ b/swh/indexer/metadata_dictionary/nuget.py
@@ -5,15 +5,13 @@
 
 import os.path
 import re
-from typing import Any, Dict, List, Optional
-
-import xmltodict
+from typing import Any, Dict, List
 
 from swh.indexer.codemeta import _DATA_DIR, _read_crosstable
 from swh.indexer.namespaces import SCHEMA
 from swh.indexer.storage.interface import Sha1
 
-from .base import BaseIntrinsicMapping, DictMapping, DirectoryLsEntry
+from .base import BaseIntrinsicMapping, DirectoryLsEntry, XmlMapping
 
 NUGET_TABLE_PATH = os.path.join(_DATA_DIR, "nuget.csv")
 
@@ -21,7 +19,7 @@
     (CODEMETA_TERMS, NUGET_TABLE) = _read_crosstable(fd)
 
 
-class NuGetMapping(DictMapping, BaseIntrinsicMapping):
+class NuGetMapping(XmlMapping, BaseIntrinsicMapping):
     """
     dedicated class for NuGet (.nuspec) mapping and translation
     """
@@ -50,13 +48,8 @@
                 return [entry["sha1"]]
         return []
 
-    def translate(self, content: bytes) -> Optional[Dict[str, Any]]:
-        d = xmltodict.parse(content).get("package", {}).get("metadata", {})
-        if not isinstance(d, dict):
-            self.log.warning("Skipping ill-formed XML content: %s", content)
-            return None
-
-        return self._translate_dict(d)
+    def _translate_dict(self, d: Dict[str, Any]) -> Dict[str, Any]:
+        return super()._translate_dict(d.get("package", {}).get("metadata", {}))
 
     def normalize_projectUrl(self, s):
         if isinstance(s, str):