diff --git a/src/__tests__/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js b/src/__tests__/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
index 8ca1a83a..720c0ba2 100644
--- a/src/__tests__/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
+++ b/src/__tests__/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
@@ -42,6 +42,20 @@ test('requires an element to exist first', () => {
   )
 })
 
+test("requires element's parent to exist first", () => {
+  const {getByTestId} = renderIntoDocument(`
+  <div data-testid="div">asd</div>
+`)
+  const div = getByTestId('div')
+  div.parentElement.removeChild(div)
+
+  return expect(
+    waitForElementToBeRemoved(div),
+  ).rejects.toThrowErrorMatchingInlineSnapshot(
+    `"The element(s) given to waitForElementToBeRemoved are already removed. waitForElementToBeRemoved requires that the element(s) exist(s) before waiting for removal."`,
+  )
+})
+
 test('requires an unempty array of elements to exist first', () => {
   return expect(
     waitForElementToBeRemoved([]),
diff --git a/src/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js b/src/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
index d69974f4..ff9adb9d 100644
--- a/src/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
+++ b/src/wait-for-element-to-be-removed.js
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ async function waitForElementToBeRemoved(callback, options) {
     const elements = Array.isArray(callback) ? callback : [callback]
     const getRemainingElements = elements.map(element => {
       let parent = element.parentElement
+      if(parent === null) return () => null
       while (parent.parentElement) parent = parent.parentElement
       return () => (parent.contains(element) ? element : null)
     })