locked & unlocked values in panel config file causes panel not to load

Submitted by epo..@..up.com

Link to original bug (#13716)

Description

Xubuntu 14.04.4

$apt-cache policy xfce4
xfce4:
  Installed: 4.10.1
  Candidate: 4.10.1
  Version table:
 *** 4.10.1 0

Similar to this thread: https://forum.xfce.org/viewtopic.php?id=5681

<channel name="xfce4-panel" version="1.0" locked="*" unlocked="root">
If I lock down the panels with this setting in ~/.config/xfce4/xfconf/xfce-perchannel-xml/xfce4-panel.xml, the customized panel fails to load and Xfce requests the user to select a blank or default panel upon startup: "Welcome to the first start of the panel"

I am unable to use kiosk mode nor upgrade to newer distros due to my environment. Is there a workaround for this?

Version: 4.10.1