diff --git a/model/fieldtypes/HTMLText.php b/model/fieldtypes/HTMLText.php
index 46d462aa8..b47049744 100644
--- a/model/fieldtypes/HTMLText.php
+++ b/model/fieldtypes/HTMLText.php
@@ -55,8 +55,9 @@ class HTMLText extends Text {
 	 *   - whitelist: If provided, a comma-separated list of elements that will be allowed to be stored
 	 *                (be careful on relying on this for XSS protection - some seemingly-safe elements allow
 	 *                attributes that can be exploited, for instance <img onload="exploiting_code();" src="..." />)
-	 *
-	 * @return void
+	 *                Text nodes outside of HTML tags are filtered out by default, but may be included by adding
+	 *                the text() directive. E.g. 'link,meta,text()' will allow only <link /> <meta /> and text at
+	 *                the root level.
 	 */
 	public function setOptions(array $options = array()) {
 		parent::setOptions($options);
@@ -184,20 +185,36 @@ class HTMLText extends Text {
 	}
 
 	public function prepValueForDB($value) {
+		return parent::prepValueForDB($this->whitelistContent($value));
+	}
+	
+	/**
+	 * Filter the given $value string through the whitelist filter
+	 * 
+	 * @param string $value Input html content
+	 * @return string Value with all non-whitelisted content stripped (if applicable)
+	 */
+	public function whitelistContent($value) {
 		if($this->whitelist) {
 			$dom = Injector::inst()->create('HTMLValue', $value);
 
 			$query = array();
-			foreach ($this->whitelist as $tag) $query[] = 'not(self::'.$tag.')';
+			$textFilter = ' | //body/text()';
+			foreach ($this->whitelist as $tag) {
+				if($tag === 'text()') {
+					$textFilter = ''; // Disable text filter if allowed
+				} else {
+					$query[] = 'not(self::'.$tag.')';
+				}
+			}
 
-			foreach($dom->query('//body//*['.implode(' and ', $query).']') as $el) {
+			foreach($dom->query('//body//*['.implode(' and ', $query).']'.$textFilter) as $el) {
 				if ($el->parentNode) $el->parentNode->removeChild($el);
 			}
 
 			$value = $dom->getContent();
 		}
-
-		return parent::prepValueForDB($value);
+		return $value;
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/tests/model/HTMLTextTest.php b/tests/model/HTMLTextTest.php
index ac46cd647..4e91688ab 100644
--- a/tests/model/HTMLTextTest.php
+++ b/tests/model/HTMLTextTest.php
@@ -179,11 +179,17 @@ class HTMLTextTest extends SapphireTest {
 
 	function testWhitelist() {
 		$textObj = new HTMLText('Test', 'meta,link');
-
 		$this->assertEquals(
-			$textObj->prepValueForDB('<meta content="Keep"><link href="Also Keep">'),
-			$textObj->prepValueForDB('<meta content="Keep"><p>Remove</p><link href="Also Keep" />'),
-			'Removes any elements not in whitelist'
+			'<meta content="Keep"><link href="Also Keep">',
+			$textObj->whitelistContent('<meta content="Keep"><p>Remove</p><link href="Also Keep" />Remove Text'),
+			'Removes any elements not in whitelist excluding text elements'
+		);
+		
+		$textObj = new HTMLText('Test', 'meta,link,text()');
+		$this->assertEquals(
+			'<meta content="Keep"><link href="Also Keep">Keep Text',
+			$textObj->whitelistContent('<meta content="Keep"><p>Remove</p><link href="Also Keep" />Keep Text'),
+			'Removes any elements not in whitelist including text elements'
 		);
 	}
 }