diff --git a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditRules.cpp b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditRules.cpp
index 10782cfbda3..d1811d1615c 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditRules.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditRules.cpp
@@ -2942,10 +2942,10 @@ nsHTMLEditRules::DidDeleteSelection(nsISelection *aSelection,
   res = GetTopEnclosingMailCite(startNode, address_of(citeNode), 
                                 IsPlaintextEditor());
   NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(res, res);
-  if (citeNode)
-  {
+  if (citeNode) {
+    nsCOMPtr<nsINode> cite = do_QueryInterface(citeNode);
     bool isEmpty = true, seenBR = false;
-    mHTMLEditor->IsEmptyNodeImpl(citeNode, &isEmpty, true, true, false, &seenBR);
+    mHTMLEditor->IsEmptyNodeImpl(cite, &isEmpty, true, true, false, &seenBR);
     if (isEmpty)
     {
       nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> parent, brNode;
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.cpp b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.cpp
index 45fb5dc14b4..da636ffbb56 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.cpp
@@ -35,9 +35,12 @@
  *
  * ***** END LICENSE BLOCK ***** */
 
-#include "mozilla/Util.h"
-
 #include "nsHTMLEditUtils.h"
+
+#include "mozilla/Assertions.h"
+#include "mozilla/Util.h"
+#include "mozilla/dom/Element.h"
+
 #include "nsTextEditUtils.h"
 
 #include "nsString.h"
@@ -177,7 +180,15 @@ bool
 nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(nsIDOMNode *node)
 {
   NS_PRECONDITION(node, "null parent passed to nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem");
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = nsEditor::GetTag(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<dom::Element> element = do_QueryInterface(node);
+  return element && IsListItem(element);
+}
+
+bool
+nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(dom::Element* node)
+{
+  MOZ_ASSERT(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = node->Tag();
   return (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::li)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::dd)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::dt);
@@ -245,7 +256,15 @@ bool
 nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(nsIDOMNode *node)
 {
   NS_PRECONDITION(node, "null parent passed to nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell");
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = nsEditor::GetTag(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<dom::Element> element = do_QueryInterface(node);
+  return element && IsTableCell(element);
+}
+
+bool
+nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(dom::Element* node)
+{
+  MOZ_ASSERT(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = node->Tag();
   return (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::td)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::th);
 }
@@ -268,11 +287,19 @@ nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCellOrCaption(nsIDOMNode *node)
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // IsList: true if node an html list
 //                  
-bool 
+bool
 nsHTMLEditUtils::IsList(nsIDOMNode *node)
 {
   NS_PRECONDITION(node, "null parent passed to nsHTMLEditUtils::IsList");
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = nsEditor::GetTag(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<dom::Element> element = do_QueryInterface(node);
+  return element && IsList(element);
+}
+
+bool
+nsHTMLEditUtils::IsList(dom::Element* node)
+{
+  MOZ_ASSERT(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = node->Tag();
   return (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::ul)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::ol)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::dl);
@@ -345,15 +372,21 @@ nsHTMLEditUtils::IsLink(nsIDOMNode *aNode)
 bool 
 nsHTMLEditUtils::IsNamedAnchor(nsIDOMNode *aNode)
 {
-  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aNode, false);
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMHTMLAnchorElement> anchor = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
-  if (anchor)
-  {
-    nsAutoString tmpText;
-    if (NS_SUCCEEDED(anchor->GetName(tmpText)) && !tmpText.IsEmpty())
-      return true;
+  nsCOMPtr<dom::Element> element = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
+  return element && IsNamedAnchor(element);
+}
+
+bool
+nsHTMLEditUtils::IsNamedAnchor(dom::Element* aNode)
+{
+  MOZ_ASSERT(aNode);
+  if (!aNode->IsHTML(nsGkAtoms::a)) {
+    return false;
   }
-  return false;
+
+  nsAutoString text;
+  return aNode->GetAttr(kNameSpaceID_None, nsGkAtoms::name, text) &&
+         !text.IsEmpty();
 }
 
 
@@ -419,11 +452,19 @@ nsHTMLEditUtils::IsMailCite(nsIDOMNode *node)
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // IsFormWidget: true if node is a form widget of some kind
 //                  
-bool 
+bool
 nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(nsIDOMNode *node)
 {
   NS_PRECONDITION(node, "null node passed to nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget");
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = nsEditor::GetTag(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<dom::Element> element = do_QueryInterface(node);
+  return element && IsFormWidget(element);
+}
+
+bool
+nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(dom::Element* node)
+{
+  MOZ_ASSERT(node);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIAtom> nodeAtom = node->Tag();
   return (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::textarea)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::select)
       || (nodeAtom == nsEditProperty::button)
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.h b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.h
index 4543f6d6771..5da26773737 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.h
+++ b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditUtils.h
@@ -40,6 +40,12 @@
 
 #include "prtypes.h"  // for PRInt32
 
+namespace mozilla {
+namespace dom {
+class Element;
+} // namespace dom
+} // namespace mozilla
+
 class nsIDOMNode;
 
 class nsHTMLEditUtils
@@ -56,13 +62,16 @@ public:
   static bool IsHeader(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsParagraph(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsHR(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
+  static bool IsListItem(mozilla::dom::Element* aNode);
   static bool IsListItem(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsTable(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsTableRow(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsTableElement(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsTableElementButNotTable(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
+  static bool IsTableCell(mozilla::dom::Element* node);
   static bool IsTableCell(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsTableCellOrCaption(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
+  static bool IsList(mozilla::dom::Element* aNode);
   static bool IsList(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsOrderedList(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsUnorderedList(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
@@ -71,10 +80,12 @@ public:
   static bool IsAnchor(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsImage(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsLink(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
+  static bool IsNamedAnchor(mozilla::dom::Element* aNode);
   static bool IsNamedAnchor(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsDiv(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsMozDiv(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool IsMailCite(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
+  static bool IsFormWidget(mozilla::dom::Element* aNode);
   static bool IsFormWidget(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool SupportsAlignAttr(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
   static bool CanContain(PRInt32 aParent, PRInt32 aChild);
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.cpp b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.cpp
index 10315b3c01d..dec29f54895 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.cpp
+++ b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.cpp
@@ -3953,7 +3953,14 @@ nsHTMLEditor::TagCanContainTag(const nsAString& aParentTag, const nsAString& aCh
   return nsHTMLEditUtils::CanContain(parentTagEnum, childTagEnum);
 }
 
-bool 
+bool
+nsHTMLEditor::IsContainer(nsINode* aNode)
+{
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> node = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
+  return IsContainer(node);
+}
+
+bool
 nsHTMLEditor::IsContainer(nsIDOMNode *aNode)
 {
   if (!aNode) {
@@ -4773,13 +4780,10 @@ bool
 nsHTMLEditor::IsTextInDirtyFrameVisible(nsIContent *aNode)
 {
   bool isEmptyTextNode;
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> node = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
-  nsresult res = IsVisTextNode(node, &isEmptyTextNode, false);
-  if (NS_FAILED(res))
-  {
+  nsresult rv = IsVisTextNode(aNode, &isEmptyTextNode, false);
+  if (NS_FAILED(rv)) {
     // We are following the historical decision:
     //   if we don't know, we say it's visible...
-
     return true;
   }
 
@@ -4790,6 +4794,15 @@ nsHTMLEditor::IsTextInDirtyFrameVisible(nsIContent *aNode)
 ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 // IsVisTextNode: figure out if textnode aTextNode has any visible content.
 //                  
+nsresult
+nsHTMLEditor::IsVisTextNode(nsIContent* aNode,
+                            bool* outIsEmptyNode,
+                            bool aSafeToAskFrames)
+{
+  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> node = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
+  return IsVisTextNode(node);
+}
+
 nsresult
 nsHTMLEditor::IsVisTextNode( nsIDOMNode* aNode, 
                              bool *outIsEmptyNode, 
@@ -4861,10 +4874,11 @@ nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNode( nsIDOMNode *aNode,
                            bool aListOrCellNotEmpty,
                            bool aSafeToAskFrames)
 {
-  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aNode && outIsEmptyNode, NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER);
+  nsCOMPtr<nsINode> node = do_QueryInterface(aNode);
+  NS_ENSURE_TRUE(node && outIsEmptyNode, NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER);
   *outIsEmptyNode = true;
   bool seenBR = false;
-  return IsEmptyNodeImpl(aNode, outIsEmptyNode, aSingleBRDoesntCount,
+  return IsEmptyNodeImpl(node, outIsEmptyNode, aSingleBRDoesntCount,
                          aListOrCellNotEmpty, aSafeToAskFrames, &seenBR);
 }
 
@@ -4872,20 +4886,17 @@ nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNode( nsIDOMNode *aNode,
 // IsEmptyNodeImpl: workhorse for IsEmptyNode.
 //                  
 nsresult
-nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNodeImpl( nsIDOMNode *aNode, 
-                               bool *outIsEmptyNode, 
-                               bool aSingleBRDoesntCount,
-                               bool aListOrCellNotEmpty,
-                               bool aSafeToAskFrames,
-                               bool *aSeenBR)
+nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNodeImpl(nsINode* aNode,
+                              bool *outIsEmptyNode,
+                              bool aSingleBRDoesntCount,
+                              bool aListOrCellNotEmpty,
+                              bool aSafeToAskFrames,
+                              bool *aSeenBR)
 {
   NS_ENSURE_TRUE(aNode && outIsEmptyNode && aSeenBR, NS_ERROR_NULL_POINTER);
-  nsresult res = NS_OK;
 
-  if (nsEditor::IsTextNode(aNode))
-  {
-    res = IsVisTextNode(aNode, outIsEmptyNode, aSafeToAskFrames);
-    return res;
+  if (aNode->NodeType() == nsIDOMNode::TEXT_NODE) {
+    return IsVisTextNode(static_cast<nsIContent*>(aNode), outIsEmptyNode, aSafeToAskFrames);
   }
 
   // if it's not a text node (handled above) and it's not a container,
@@ -4894,74 +4905,72 @@ nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNodeImpl( nsIDOMNode *aNode,
   // anchors are containers, named anchors are "empty" but we don't
   // want to treat them as such.  Also, don't call ListItems or table
   // cells empty if caller desires.  Form Widgets not empty.
-  if (!IsContainer(aNode) || nsHTMLEditUtils::IsNamedAnchor(aNode) ||
-        nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(aNode)                       ||
-       (aListOrCellNotEmpty && nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(aNode)) ||
-       (aListOrCellNotEmpty && nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(aNode)) ) 
-  {
+  if (!IsContainer(aNode)                                   ||
+      (aNode->IsElement() &&
+       (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsNamedAnchor(aNode->AsElement())  ||
+        nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(aNode->AsElement())   ||
+        (aListOrCellNotEmpty &&
+         (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(aNode->AsElement())   ||
+          nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(aNode->AsElement()))))))  {
     *outIsEmptyNode = false;
     return NS_OK;
   }
     
   // need this for later
-  bool isListItemOrCell = 
-       nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(aNode) || nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(aNode);
+  bool isListItemOrCell = aNode->IsElement() &&
+       (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsListItem(aNode->AsElement()) ||
+        nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTableCell(aNode->AsElement()));
        
   // loop over children of node. if no children, or all children are either 
   // empty text nodes or non-editable, then node qualifies as empty
-  nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> child;
-  aNode->GetFirstChild(getter_AddRefs(child));
-   
-  while (child)
-  {
-    nsCOMPtr<nsIDOMNode> node = child;
-    // is the node editable and non-empty?  if so, return false
-    if (nsEditor::IsEditable(node))
-    {
-      if (nsEditor::IsTextNode(node))
-      {
-        res = IsVisTextNode(node, outIsEmptyNode, aSafeToAskFrames);
-        NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(res, res);
+  for (nsCOMPtr<nsIContent> child = aNode->GetFirstChild();
+       child;
+       child = child->GetNextSibling()) {
+    // Is the child editable and non-empty?  if so, return false
+    if (nsEditor::IsEditable(child)) {
+      if (child->NodeType() == nsIDOMNode::TEXT_NODE) {
+        nsresult rv = IsVisTextNode(child, outIsEmptyNode, aSafeToAskFrames);
+        NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
         // break out if we find we aren't emtpy
         if (!*outIsEmptyNode) {
           return NS_OK;
         }
-      }
-      else  // an editable, non-text node.  we need to check it's content.
-      {
-        // is it the node we are iterating over?
-        if (node == aNode) break;
-        else if (aSingleBRDoesntCount && !*aSeenBR && nsTextEditUtils::IsBreak(node))
-        {
+      } else {
+        // An editable, non-text node. We need to check its content.
+        // Is it the node we are iterating over?
+        if (child == aNode) {
+          break;
+        }
+
+        if (aSingleBRDoesntCount && !*aSeenBR && child->IsHTML(nsGkAtoms::br)) {
           // the first br in a block doesn't count if the caller so indicated
           *aSeenBR = true;
-        }
-        else
-        {
+        } else {
           // is it an empty node of some sort?
           // note: list items or table cells are not considered empty
           // if they contain other lists or tables
-          if (isListItemOrCell)
-          {
-            if (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsList(node) || nsHTMLEditUtils::IsTable(node))
-            { // break out if we find we aren't empty
+          if (child->IsElement()) {
+            if (isListItemOrCell) {
+              if (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsList(child->AsElement()) || child->IsHTML(nsGkAtoms::table)) {
+                // break out if we find we aren't empty
+                *outIsEmptyNode = false;
+                return NS_OK;
+              }
+            } else if (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(child->AsElement())) {
+              // is it a form widget?
+              // break out if we find we aren't empty
               *outIsEmptyNode = false;
               return NS_OK;
             }
           }
-          // is it a form widget?
-          else if (nsHTMLEditUtils::IsFormWidget(node))
-          { // break out if we find we aren't empty
-            *outIsEmptyNode = false;
-            return NS_OK;
-          }
-          
+
           bool isEmptyNode = true;
-          res = IsEmptyNodeImpl(node, &isEmptyNode, aSingleBRDoesntCount, 
-                                aListOrCellNotEmpty, aSafeToAskFrames, aSeenBR);
-          NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(res, res);
-          if (!isEmptyNode) 
-          { 
+          nsresult rv = IsEmptyNodeImpl(child, &isEmptyNode,
+                                        aSingleBRDoesntCount,
+                                        aListOrCellNotEmpty, aSafeToAskFrames,
+                                        aSeenBR);
+          NS_ENSURE_SUCCESS(rv, rv);
+          if (!isEmptyNode) {
             // otherwise it ain't empty
             *outIsEmptyNode = false;
             return NS_OK;
@@ -4969,7 +4978,6 @@ nsHTMLEditor::IsEmptyNodeImpl( nsIDOMNode *aNode,
         }
       }
     }
-    node->GetNextSibling(getter_AddRefs(child));
   }
   
   return NS_OK;
diff --git a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.h b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.h
index 51356971d8f..64ef81a8801 100644
--- a/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.h
+++ b/editor/libeditor/html/nsHTMLEditor.h
@@ -324,6 +324,7 @@ public:
   virtual bool TagCanContainTag(const nsAString& aParentTag, const nsAString& aChildTag);
   
   /** returns true if aNode is a container */
+  virtual bool IsContainer(nsINode* aNode);
   virtual bool IsContainer(nsIDOMNode *aNode);
 
   /** make the given selection span the entire document */
@@ -387,6 +388,9 @@ public:
 
   virtual bool IsTextInDirtyFrameVisible(nsIContent *aNode);
 
+  nsresult IsVisTextNode(nsIContent* aNode,
+                         bool* outIsEmptyNode,
+                         bool aSafeToAskFrames);
   nsresult IsVisTextNode( nsIDOMNode *aNode, 
                           bool *outIsEmptyNode, 
                           bool aSafeToAskFrames);
@@ -394,7 +398,7 @@ public:
                        bool aMozBRDoesntCount = false,
                        bool aListOrCellNotEmpty = false,
                        bool aSafeToAskFrames = false);
-  nsresult IsEmptyNodeImpl(nsIDOMNode *aNode,
+  nsresult IsEmptyNodeImpl(nsINode* aNode,
                            bool *outIsEmptyBlock, 
                            bool aMozBRDoesntCount,
                            bool aListOrCellNotEmpty,