diff --git a/src/xml.tsx b/src/xml.tsx
index 091d23330..e15e38b29 100644
--- a/src/xml.tsx
+++ b/src/xml.tsx
@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ export function parse(source: string, middleware?: Middleware): JsxAST | null {
     }
 
     if (/\S/.test(text)) {
-      children.push(text);
+      children?.push(text);
     }
 
     if (source[i] === '<') {