diff --git a/closure/goog/fx/dragger.js b/closure/goog/fx/dragger.js
index 8a7170c820..8c332053b9 100644
--- a/closure/goog/fx/dragger.js
+++ b/closure/goog/fx/dragger.js
@@ -229,7 +229,7 @@ goog.fx.Dragger.HAS_SET_CAPTURE_ = goog.global.document &&
  * @return {!Element} The clone of {@code sourceEl}.
  */
 goog.fx.Dragger.cloneNode = function(sourceEl) {
-  var clonedEl = /** @type {Element} */ (sourceEl.cloneNode(true)),
+  var clonedEl = sourceEl.cloneNode(true),
       origTexts = sourceEl.getElementsByTagName(goog.dom.TagName.TEXTAREA),
       dragTexts = clonedEl.getElementsByTagName(goog.dom.TagName.TEXTAREA);
   // Cloning does not copy the current value of textarea elements, so correct