diff --git a/lib/parse.js b/lib/parse.js
index b8ab953..e281079 100644
--- a/lib/parse.js
+++ b/lib/parse.js
@@ -4,13 +4,13 @@ var parseTag = require('./parse-tag');
 // re-used obj for quick lookups of components
 var empty = Object.create ? Object.create(null) : {};
 // common logic for pushing a child node onto a list
-function pushTextNode(list, html, start) {
+function pushTextNode(list, html, start, ignoreWhitespace) {
     // calculate correct end of the content slice in case there's
     // no tag after the text node.
     var end = html.indexOf('<', start);
     var content = html.slice(start, end === -1 ? undefined : end);
     // if a node is nothing but whitespace, no need to add it.
-    if (!/^\s*$/.test(content)) {
+    if (!ignoreWhitespace || !/^\s*$/.test(content)) {
         list.push({
             type: 'text',
             content: content
@@ -21,6 +21,9 @@ function pushTextNode(list, html, start) {
 module.exports = function parse(html, options) {
     options || (options = {});
     options.components || (options.components = empty);
+    if (options.ignoreWhitespace === void 0) {
+        options.ignoreWhitespace = true;
+    }
     var result = [];
     var current;
     var level = -1;
@@ -53,7 +56,7 @@ module.exports = function parse(html, options) {
             }
 
             if (!current.voidElement && !inComponent && nextChar && nextChar !== '<') {
-                pushTextNode(current.children, html, start);
+                pushTextNode(current.children, html, start, options.ignoreWhitespace);
             }
 
             byTag[current.tagName] = current;
@@ -81,10 +84,15 @@ module.exports = function parse(html, options) {
                 // if we're at the root, push a base text node. otherwise add as
                 // a child to the current node.
                 parent = level === -1 ? result : arr[level].children;
-                pushTextNode(parent, html, start);
+                pushTextNode(parent, html, start, options.ignoreWhitespace);
             }
         }
     });
 
+    // If the "html" passed isn't actually html, add it as a text node.
+    if (!result.length && html.length) {
+        pushTextNode(result, html, 0, options.ignoreWhitespace);
+    }
+
     return result;
 };