diff --git a/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp b/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
index 3783fd177e4..8521105d2de 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/CreateElementTxn.cpp
@@ -94,18 +94,38 @@ 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; }
 
-  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);
+  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;
  
+    //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 adbd4dc0bf8..5503719c966 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.cpp
@@ -2523,6 +2523,22 @@ 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 696fa94c772..7ae51af8136 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h
+++ b/editor/libeditor/base/nsEditor.h
@@ -368,6 +368,10 @@ 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.