diff --git a/lib/html_to_markdown.rb b/lib/html_to_markdown.rb
index 21a3cded140..6edf93555e3 100644
--- a/lib/html_to_markdown.rb
+++ b/lib/html_to_markdown.rb
@@ -186,18 +186,22 @@ class HtmlToMarkdown
   end
 
   def visit_strong(node)
+    return if node.text.blank?
     delimiter = node.text["*"] ? "__" : "**"
     @stack[-1].markdown << delimiter
     traverse(node)
+    @stack[-1].markdown.chomp!
     @stack[-1].markdown << delimiter
   end
 
   alias :visit_b :visit_strong
 
   def visit_em(node)
+    return if node.text.blank?
     delimiter = node.text["*"] ? "_" : "*"
     @stack[-1].markdown << delimiter
     traverse(node)
+    @stack[-1].markdown.chomp!
     @stack[-1].markdown << delimiter
   end
 
diff --git a/spec/components/html_to_markdown_spec.rb b/spec/components/html_to_markdown_spec.rb
index 21aa1822d27..9b425035273 100644
--- a/spec/components/html_to_markdown_spec.rb
+++ b/spec/components/html_to_markdown_spec.rb
@@ -228,4 +228,32 @@ describe HtmlToMarkdown do
     expect(html_to_markdown(html)).to eq("1st paragraph\n2nd paragraph")
   end
 
+  context "with an oddly placed <br>" do
+
+    it "handles <strong>" do
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<strong>Bold<br></strong>")).to eq("**Bold**")
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<strong>Bold<br>text</strong>")).to eq("**Bold\ntext**")
+    end
+
+    it "handles <em>" do
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<em>Italic<br></em>")).to eq("*Italic*")
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<em>Italic<br>text</em>")).to eq("*Italic\ntext*")
+    end
+
+  end
+
+  context "with an empty tag" do
+
+    it "handles <strong>" do
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<strong></strong>")).to eq("")
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<strong>   </strong>")).to eq("")
+    end
+
+    it "handles <em>" do
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<em></em>")).to eq("")
+      expect(html_to_markdown("<em>   </em>")).to eq("")
+    end
+
+  end
+
 end