diff --git a/lib/saxes.js b/lib/saxes.js
index e1c0143e..3c39cab8 100644
--- a/lib/saxes.js
+++ b/lib/saxes.js
@@ -719,10 +719,7 @@ class SAXParser {
 
       case S_CLOSE_TAG:
         if (!this.tagName) {
-          if (isWhitespace(c)) {
-            continue;
-          }
-          else if (notMatch(NAME_START_CHAR, c)) {
+          if (notMatch(NAME_START_CHAR, c)) {
             this.fail("Invalid tagname in closing tag.");
           }
           else {