diff --git a/lib/comicxml.lua b/lib/comicxml.lua
index 6f478ec..a9f5581 100644
--- a/lib/comicxml.lua
+++ b/lib/comicxml.lua
@@ -99,12 +99,12 @@ function XmlObject:toTable(node)
 
     -- Add text if present and no children or attributes
     local text = node._text:match("^%s*(.-)%s*$")
+    if next(obj) == nil then
+        return text
+    end
+
     if text ~= "" then
-        if next(obj) == nil then
-            return text
-        else
-            obj["text"] = text
-        end
+        obj["text"] = text
     end
 
     return obj
diff --git a/test/xml_spec.lua b/test/xml_spec.lua
index 0b9c3df..4f622ff 100644
--- a/test/xml_spec.lua
+++ b/test/xml_spec.lua
@@ -58,3 +58,26 @@ describe("xml object with array", function()
         end)
     end)
 end)
+
+describe("empty xml object with self closing tags", function()
+    describe("parse sample", function()
+        local xml = [[
+    <root>
+      <item/>
+      <item2>HelloWorld</item2>
+    </root>
+    ]]
+
+        local parser = XmlObject:new()
+        local root = parser:parse(xml)
+        local obj = parser:toTable(root)
+
+        it("<item/> should be null, no a table", function()
+            assert.equals("",obj.item)
+            assert.is_not.table(obj.item)
+        end)
+        it("item2 should exist and have value", function()
+            assert.equals( "HelloWorld", obj.item2)
+        end)
+    end)
+end)