diff --git a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
index 50210fea05c1..a23fc1b12e3f 100644
--- a/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
+++ b/src/ngSanitize/sanitize.js
@@ -413,7 +413,6 @@ function htmlParser(html, handler) {
 }
 
 var hiddenPre=document.createElement("pre");
-var spaceRe = /^(\s*)([\s\S]*?)(\s*)$/;
 /**
  * decodes all entities into regular string
  * @param value
@@ -422,22 +421,10 @@ var spaceRe = /^(\s*)([\s\S]*?)(\s*)$/;
 function decodeEntities(value) {
   if (!value) { return ''; }
 
-  // Note: IE8 does not preserve spaces at the start/end of innerHTML
-  // so we must capture them and reattach them afterward
-  var parts = spaceRe.exec(value);
-  var spaceBefore = parts[1];
-  var spaceAfter = parts[3];
-  var content = parts[2];
-  if (content) {
-    hiddenPre.innerHTML=content.replace(/</g,"&lt;");
-    // 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;
+  hiddenPre.innerHTML = value.replace(/</g,"&lt;");
+  // innerText depends on styling as it doesn't display hidden elements.
+  // Therefore, it's better to use textContent not to cause unnecessary reflows.
+  return hiddenPre.textContent;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js b/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
index 2642bdf6fde9..c3b81c325936 100644
--- a/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
+++ b/test/ngSanitize/sanitizeSpec.js
@@ -495,8 +495,7 @@ describe('HTML', function() {
 });
 
 describe('decodeEntities', function() {
-  var handler, text,
-      origHiddenPre = window.hiddenPre;
+  var handler, text;
 
   beforeEach(function() {
     text = '';
@@ -511,37 +510,13 @@ describe('decodeEntities', function() {
     module('ngSanitize');
   });
 
-  afterEach(function() {
-    window.hiddenPre = origHiddenPre;
+  it('should unescape text', function() {
+    htmlParser('a&lt;div&gt;&amp;&lt;/div&gt;c', handler)
+    expect(text).toEqual('a<div>&</div>c');
   });
 
-  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('');
-    });
+  it('should preserve whitespace', function() {
+    htmlParser('  a&amp;b ', handler)
+    expect(text).toEqual('  a&b ');
   });
 });