The expected result of /LayoutTests/editing/deleting/5390681.html seems to be incorrect. We shouldn't be inserting a placeholder. The dumpAsText version of this test is: <p>This tests for a bug where expansion for smart delete would not consider editable boundaries. Only 'foo' should be deleted. You should see ' bar'. <b>There is a bug: while the non-editable space isn't deleted, deletion inserts a placeholder when it shouldn't.</b></p> <div contenteditable="true" id="div">foo<span contenteditable="false"> bar</span></div> <p id="console"></p> <script> if (window.layoutTestController) window.layoutTestController.dumpAsText(); function log(message) { var console = document.getElementById("console"); var text = document.createTextNode(message); console.appendChild(text); } var div = document.getElementById("div"); var sel = window.getSelection(); sel.setPosition(div, 0); sel.modify("extend", "forward", "word"); document.execCommand("Delete"); log(document.getElementById('div').innerHTML); </script>