diff --git a/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaClick.js b/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaClick.js
index ebd9d9fce2fd..08a39d0a60c4 100644
--- a/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaClick.js
+++ b/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaClick.js
@@ -134,7 +134,8 @@
       prefillTextBox(target); // prefill the empty text field if possible
     }
     else {
-      linkNode = findParentNode(event.originalTarget, "a");
+      while (linkNode && !(linkNode instanceof HTMLAnchorElement))
+        linkNode = linkNode.parentNode;
       // <a> cannot be nested.  So if we find an anchor without an
       // href, there is no useful <a> around the target
       if (linkNode && !linkNode.hasAttribute("href"))
@@ -186,7 +187,6 @@
 
     if (pref && !isKeyPress && event.button == 1 &&
         !event.getPreventDefault() &&
-        !findParentNode(event.originalTarget, "scrollbar") &&
         pref.getBoolPref("middlemouse.contentLoadURL")) {
       if (middleMousePaste(event)) {
         event.preventBubble();
diff --git a/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaUtils.js b/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaUtils.js
index 4c428765d184..dbf9c612e861 100644
--- a/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaUtils.js
+++ b/xpfe/communicator/resources/content/contentAreaUtils.js
@@ -178,29 +178,6 @@ function openNewTabWith(url, sendReferrer, reverseBackgroundPref)
   }
 }
 
-function findParentNode(node, parentNode)
-{
-  if (node && node.nodeType == Node.TEXT_NODE) {
-    node = node.parentNode;
-  }
-  while (node) {
-    if (node.nodeType == Node.DOCUMENT_NODE) {
-      return null;
-    }
-    var nodeName = node.localName;
-    if (!nodeName)
-      return null;
-    nodeName = nodeName.toLowerCase();
-    if (nodeName == "body" || nodeName == "html") {
-      return null;
-    }
-    if (nodeName == parentNode)
-      return node;
-    node = node.parentNode;
-  }
-  return null;
-}
-
 // Clientelle: (Make sure you don't break any of these)
 //  - File    ->  Save Page/Frame As...
 //  - Context ->  Save Page/Frame As...