diff --git a/src/XmlContentTranslator/Main.cs b/src/XmlContentTranslator/Main.cs
index ee27ad5..45f00c2 100644
--- a/src/XmlContentTranslator/Main.cs
+++ b/src/XmlContentTranslator/Main.cs
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ private bool OpenFirstXmlDocument(XmlDocument doc)
                         var treeNode = new TreeNode(childNode.Name);
                         treeNode.Tag = childNode;
                         treeView1.Nodes.Add(treeNode);
-                        if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !XmlUtils.IsTextNode(childNode))
+                        if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !childNode.IsTextNode())
                         {
                             ExpandNode(treeNode, childNode);
                         }
@@ -201,7 +201,7 @@ private void OpenSecondFile(string fileName)
             {
                 foreach (XmlNode childNode in doc.DocumentElement.ChildNodes)
                 {
-                    if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !XmlUtils.IsTextNode(childNode))
+                    if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !childNode.IsTextNode())
                     {
                         ExpandNode(null, childNode);
                     }
@@ -309,7 +309,7 @@ private void ExpandNode(TreeNode parentNode, XmlNode node)
                         treeView1.Nodes.Add(treeNode);
                     else
                         parentNode.Nodes.Add(treeNode);
-                    if (XmlUtils.IsParentElement(childNode))
+                    if (childNode.IsParentElement())
                     {
                         ExpandNode(treeNode, childNode);
                     }
@@ -326,7 +326,7 @@ private void ExpandNode(TreeNode parentNode, XmlNode node)
                 AddAttributes(node);
                 foreach (XmlNode childNode in node.ChildNodes)
                 {
-                    if (XmlUtils.IsParentElement(childNode))
+                    if (childNode.IsParentElement())
                     {
                         ExpandNode(null, childNode);
                     }
@@ -425,7 +425,7 @@ private void FillOriginalDocumentFromSecondLanguage()
             {
                 foreach (XmlNode childNode in _originalDocument.DocumentElement.ChildNodes)
                 {
-                    if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !XmlUtils.IsTextNode(childNode))
+                    if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !childNode.IsTextNode())
                     {
                         FillOriginalDocumentExpandNode(childNode);
                     }
@@ -439,6 +439,7 @@ private void FillOriginalDocumentFromSecondLanguage()
                         FillAttributes(_originalDocument.DocumentElement);
                     }
                 }
+                XmlUtils.ConvertToSelfClosingTags(_originalDocument.DocumentElement);
             }
         }
 
@@ -447,7 +448,7 @@ private void FillOriginalDocumentExpandNode(XmlNode node)
             FillAttributes(node);
             foreach (XmlNode childNode in node.ChildNodes)
             {
-                if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !XmlUtils.IsTextNode(childNode))
+                if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !childNode.IsTextNode())
                 {
                     FillOriginalDocumentExpandNode(childNode);
                 }
@@ -465,7 +466,7 @@ private void FillOriginalDocumentExpandNode(XmlNode node)
 
         private void FillAttributes(XmlNode node)
         {
-            if (node.Attributes == null)
+            if (node == null || node.Attributes == null)
                 return;
 
             foreach (XmlNode attribute in node.Attributes)
diff --git a/src/XmlContentTranslator/XmlUtils.cs b/src/XmlContentTranslator/XmlUtils.cs
index 2c39e0d..16fcf96 100644
--- a/src/XmlContentTranslator/XmlUtils.cs
+++ b/src/XmlContentTranslator/XmlUtils.cs
@@ -10,11 +10,14 @@ public static class XmlUtils
     {
         private static readonly StringBuilder Sb = new StringBuilder();
 
-        public static bool IsTextNode(XmlNode childNode)
+        public static bool IsTextNode(this XmlNode node)
         {
-            if (childNode.ChildNodes.Count == 1 && childNode.ChildNodes[0].NodeType == XmlNodeType.Text)
-                return true;
-            return false;
+            return node != null && node.ChildNodes.Count == 1 && node.ChildNodes[0].NodeType == XmlNodeType.Text;
+        }
+
+        public static bool IsParentElement(this XmlNode node)
+        {
+            return node != null && node.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !node.IsTextNode() && node.NodeType != XmlNodeType.Comment && node.NodeType != XmlNodeType.CDATA;
         }
 
         public static string BuildNodePath(XmlNode node)
@@ -94,10 +97,28 @@ public static string GetNodeIndex(XmlNode node)
             return string.Format("[{0}]", i);
         }
 
-        public static bool IsParentElement(XmlNode xnode)
+        public static void ConvertToSelfClosingTags(XmlElement element)
         {
-            return xnode.ChildNodes.Count > 0 && !IsTextNode(xnode) &&
-                xnode.NodeType != XmlNodeType.Comment && xnode.NodeType != XmlNodeType.CDATA;
+            if (element != null && !element.IsEmpty)
+            {
+                bool noChildElements = true;
+                if (element.HasChildNodes)
+                {
+                    for (XmlNode node = element.FirstChild; node != null; node = node.NextSibling)
+                    {
+                        if (node.NodeType == XmlNodeType.Element)
+                        {
+                            ConvertToSelfClosingTags(node as XmlElement);
+                            noChildElements = false;
+                        }
+                    }
+                }
+                if (noChildElements && element.InnerText.Length == 0 && element.ParentNode?.ParentNode?.ParentNode != null)
+                {
+                    element.IsEmpty = true;
+                }
+            }
         }
+
     }
 }