diff --git a/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp b/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
index 8521105d2de9..3783fd177e4f 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
@@ -94,38 +94,18 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP CreateElementTxn::DoTransaction(void)
 
   NS_ASSERTION(mEditor && mParent, "bad state");
   if (!mEditor || !mParent) return NS_ERROR_NOT_INITIALIZED;
-  // create a new node
-  nsAutoString textNodeTag;
-  nsresult result = nsEditor::GetTextNodeTag(textNodeTag);
-  if (NS_FAILED(result)) { return result; }
 
-  if (textNodeTag == mTag) 
-  {
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMDocument>doc;
-    result = mEditor->GetDocument(getter_AddRefs(doc));
-    if (NS_FAILED(result)) return result;
-    if (!doc) return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
-
-    const nsString stringData;
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMText>newTextNode;
-    result = doc->CreateTextNode(stringData, getter_AddRefs(newTextNode));
-    if (NS_FAILED(result)) return result;
-    if (!newTextNode) return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
-    mNewNode = do_QueryInterface(newTextNode);
-  }
-  else 
-  {
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIContent> newContent;
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIContent> newContent;
+ 
+  //new call to use instead to get proper HTML element, bug# 39919
+  nsresult result = mEditor->CreateHTMLContent(mTag, getter_AddRefs(newContent));
+  if (NS_FAILED(result)) return result;
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMElement>newElement = do_QueryInterface(newContent);
+  if (!newElement) return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
+  mNewNode = do_QueryInterface(newElement);
+  // Try to insert formatting whitespace for the new node:
+  mEditor->MarkNodeDirty(mNewNode);
  
-    //new call to use instead to get proper HTML element, bug# 39919
-    result = mEditor->CreateHTMLContent(mTag, getter_AddRefs(newContent));
-    if (NS_FAILED(result)) return result;
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMElement>newElement = do_QueryInterface(newContent);
-    if (!newElement) return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
-    mNewNode = do_QueryInterface(newElement);
-    // Try to insert formatting whitespace for the new node:
-    mEditor->MarkNodeDirty(mNewNode);
-  }
   NS_ASSERTION(((NS_SUCCEEDED(result)) && (mNewNode)), "could not create element.");
   if (!mNewNode) return NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER;
 
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp
index 91e46b2f9a11..8194e75e8384 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp
@@ -2523,22 +2523,6 @@ NS_IMETHODIMP nsEditor::ScrollSelectionIntoView(PRBool aScrollToAnchor)
   return NS_OK;
 }
 
-/** static helper method */
-nsresult nsEditor::GetTextNodeTag(nsAString& aOutString)
-{
-  aOutString.Truncate();
-  static nsString *gTextNodeTag=nsnull;
-  if (!gTextNodeTag)
-  {
-    if ( (gTextNodeTag = new nsString) == 0 )
-      return NS_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
-    gTextNodeTag->AssignLiteral("special text node tag");
-  }
-  aOutString = *gTextNodeTag;
-  return NS_OK;
-}
-
-
 NS_IMETHODIMP nsEditor::InsertTextImpl(const nsAString& aStringToInsert, 
                                           nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> *aInOutNode, 
                                           PRInt32 *aInOutOffset,
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h
index 7ae51af8136a..696fa94c7727 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h
@@ -368,10 +368,6 @@ public:
   nsresult RestorePreservedSelection(nsISelection *aSel);
   void     StopPreservingSelection();
 
-
-  /** return the string that represents text nodes in the content tree */
-  static nsresult GetTextNodeTag(nsAString& aOutString);
-
   /** 
    * SplitNode() creates a new node identical to an existing node, and split the contents between the two nodes
    * @param aExistingRightNode   the node to split.  It will become the new node's next sibling.