diff --git a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
index e669e77a63b1..1e424d693134 100644
--- a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
+++ b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
@@ -378,7 +378,12 @@ function decodeEntities(value) {
   var content = parts[2];
   if (content) {
     hiddenPre.innerHTML=content.replace(/</g,"&lt;");
-    content = hiddenPre.innerText || hiddenPre.textContent;
+    // innerText depends on styling as it doesn't display hidden elements.
+    // Therefore, it's better to use textContent not to cause unnecessary
+    // reflows. However, IE<9 don't support textContent so the innerText
+    // fallback is necessary.
+    content = 'textContent' in hiddenPre ?
+      hiddenPre.textContent : hiddenPre.innerText;
   }
   return spaceBefore + content + spaceAfter;
 }
diff --git a/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js b/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
index 1958ec0f3e36..fbffbba5cbeb 100644
--- a/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
+++ b/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
@@ -411,3 +411,55 @@ describe('HTML', function() {
     });
   });
 });
+
+describe('decodeEntities', function() {
+  var handler, text,
+      origHiddenPre = window.hiddenPre;
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    text = '';
+    handler = {
+      start: function() {},
+      chars: function(text_){
+        text = text_;
+      },
+      end: function() {},
+      comment: function() {}
+    };
+    module('ngSanitize');
+  });
+
+  afterEach(function() {
+    window.hiddenPre = origHiddenPre;
+  });
+
+  it('should use innerText if textContent is not available (IE<9)', function() {
+    window.hiddenPre = {
+      innerText: 'INNER_TEXT'
+    };
+    inject(function($sanitize) {
+      htmlParser('<tag>text</tag>', handler);
+      expect(text).toEqual('INNER_TEXT');
+    });
+  });
+  it('should use textContent if available', function() {
+    window.hiddenPre = {
+      textContent: 'TEXT_CONTENT',
+      innerText: 'INNER_TEXT'
+    };
+    inject(function($sanitize) {
+      htmlParser('<tag>text</tag>', handler);
+      expect(text).toEqual('TEXT_CONTENT');
+    });
+  });
+  it('should use textContent even if empty', function() {
+    window.hiddenPre = {
+      textContent: '',
+      innerText: 'INNER_TEXT'
+    };
+    inject(function($sanitize) {
+      htmlParser('<tag>text</tag>', handler);
+      expect(text).toEqual('');
+    });
+  });
+});