diff --git a/lib/node-htmlparser.js b/lib/node-htmlparser.js
index b54ddb4..0c7da8c 100644
--- a/lib/node-htmlparser.js
+++ b/lib/node-htmlparser.js
@@ -249,8 +249,11 @@ Parser.prototype.parseTags = function Parser$parseTags () {
 				prevElement.raw = prevElement.data = prevElement.raw + this._prevTagSep + element.raw;
 				element.raw = element.data = ""; //This causes the current element to not be added to the element list
 			    }
-			    else //Element is empty, so just append the last tag marker found
-				prevElement.raw = prevElement.data = prevElement.raw + this._prevTagSep;
+			    else{ //Element is empty, so just append the last tag marker found
+				if (prevElement) {
+				    prevElement.raw = prevElement.data = prevElement.raw + this._prevTagSep;
+				}
+			    }
 			}
 			else //The previous element was not text
 			    if (element.raw != "")