diff --git a/include/tidyenum.h b/include/tidyenum.h
index a125bce..1cef305 100644
--- a/include/tidyenum.h
+++ b/include/tidyenum.h
@@ -126,6 +126,7 @@ typedef enum
   TidyLogicalEmphasis, /**< Replace i by em and b by strong */
   TidyDropPropAttrs,   /**< Discard proprietary attributes */
   TidyDropFontTags,    /**< Discard presentation tags */
+  TidyDropEmptyElems,  /**< Discard empty elements */
   TidyDropEmptyParas,  /**< Discard empty p elements */
   TidyFixComments,     /**< Fix comments with adjacent hyphens */
   TidyBreakBeforeBR,   /**< Output newline before <br> or not? */
diff --git a/src/config.c b/src/config.c
index 6eb8287..95c3394 100644
--- a/src/config.c
+++ b/src/config.c
@@ -251,6 +251,7 @@ static const TidyOptionImpl option_defs[] =
   { TidyLogicalEmphasis,         MU, "logical-emphasis",            BL, no,              ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
   { TidyDropPropAttrs,           MU, "drop-proprietary-attributes", BL, no,              ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
   { TidyDropFontTags,            MU, "drop-font-tags",              BL, no,              ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
+  { TidyDropEmptyElems,          MU, "drop-empty-elements",         BL, yes,             ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
   { TidyDropEmptyParas,          MU, "drop-empty-paras",            BL, yes,             ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
   { TidyFixComments,             MU, "fix-bad-comments",            BL, yes,             ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
   { TidyBreakBeforeBR,           PP, "break-before-br",             BL, no,              ParseBool,         boolPicks       },
diff --git a/src/localize.c b/src/localize.c
index 9823f12..b47870a 100644
--- a/src/localize.c
+++ b/src/localize.c
@@ -425,6 +425,9 @@ static const TidyOptionDoc option_docs[] =
    "<code>--numeric-entities yes</code>. This option does not offer a "
    "validation of the document conformance. "
   },
+  {TidyDropEmptyElems,
+   "This option specifies if Tidy should discard empty elements. "
+  },
   {TidyDropEmptyParas,
    "This option specifies if Tidy should discard empty paragraphs. "
   },
diff --git a/src/parser.c b/src/parser.c
index aad2d14..46d1728 100644
--- a/src/parser.c
+++ b/src/parser.c
@@ -240,6 +240,9 @@ void TY_(InsertNodeAfterElement)(Node *element, Node *node)
 
 static Bool CanPrune( TidyDocImpl* doc, Node *element )
 {
+    if ( !cfgBool(doc, TidyDropEmptyElems) )
+        return no;
+
     if ( TY_(nodeIsText)(element) )
         return yes;