diff --git a/lib/parser.js b/lib/parser.js
index 7fa2fc58..2bf13e74 100644
--- a/lib/parser.js
+++ b/lib/parser.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 // Generated by CoffeeScript 1.12.7
 (function() {
   "use strict";
-  var bom, defaults, defineProperty, events, isEmpty, processItem, processors, sax, setImmediate,
+  var bom, defaults, defineProperty, events, hasNoContent, isEmpty, processItem, processors, sax, setImmediate,
     bind = function(fn, me){ return function(){ return fn.apply(me, arguments); }; },
     extend = function(child, parent) { for (var key in parent) { if (hasProp.call(parent, key)) child[key] = parent[key]; } function ctor() { this.constructor = child; } ctor.prototype = parent.prototype; child.prototype = new ctor(); child.__super__ = parent.prototype; return child; },
     hasProp = {}.hasOwnProperty;
@@ -22,6 +22,10 @@
     return typeof thing === "object" && (thing != null) && Object.keys(thing).length === 0;
   };
 
+  hasNoContent = function(thing) {
+    return typeof thing === "object" && (thing != null) && (Object.keys(thing).length === 0 || (Object.keys(thing).length === 1 && '$' in thing));
+  };
+
   processItem = function(processors, item, key) {
     var i, len, process;
     for (i = 0, len = processors.length; i < len; i++) {
@@ -181,7 +185,7 @@
       })(this);
       this.saxParser.onclosetag = (function(_this) {
         return function() {
-          var cdata, emptyStr, key, node, nodeName, obj, objClone, old, s, xpath;
+          var cdata, emptyStr, emptyTag, key, node, nodeName, obj, objClone, old, s, xpath;
           obj = stack.pop();
           nodeName = obj["#name"];
           if (!_this.options.explicitChildren || !_this.options.preserveChildrenOrder) {
@@ -207,12 +211,15 @@
               obj = obj[charkey];
             }
           }
+          if (typeof _this.options.emptyTag === 'function') {
+            emptyTag = _this.options.emptyTag();
+          } else {
+            emptyTag = _this.options.emptyTag !== '' ? _this.options.emptyTag : emptyStr;
+          }
           if (isEmpty(obj)) {
-            if (typeof _this.options.emptyTag === 'function') {
-              obj = _this.options.emptyTag();
-            } else {
-              obj = _this.options.emptyTag !== '' ? _this.options.emptyTag : emptyStr;
-            }
+            obj = emptyTag;
+          } else if (hasNoContent(obj)) {
+            obj['_'] = emptyTag;
           }
           if (_this.options.validator != null) {
             xpath = "/" + ((function() {
diff --git a/src/parser.coffee b/src/parser.coffee
index dade8f39..2cd26762 100644
--- a/src/parser.coffee
+++ b/src/parser.coffee
@@ -11,6 +11,9 @@ defaults = require('./defaults').defaults
 isEmpty = (thing) ->
   return typeof thing is "object" && thing? && Object.keys(thing).length is 0
 
+hasNoContent = (thing) ->
+  return typeof thing is "object" && thing? && (Object.keys(thing).length is 0 || (Object.keys(thing).length is 1 && '$' of thing))
+
 processItem = (processors, item, key) ->
   item = process(item, key) for process in processors
   return item
@@ -154,11 +157,15 @@ class exports.Parser extends events
         if Object.keys(obj).length == 1 and charkey of obj and not @EXPLICIT_CHARKEY
           obj = obj[charkey]
 
+      if typeof @options.emptyTag == 'function'
+        emptyTag = @options.emptyTag()
+      else
+        emptyTag = if @options.emptyTag != '' then @options.emptyTag else emptyStr
+
       if (isEmpty obj)
-        if typeof @options.emptyTag == 'function'
-          obj = @options.emptyTag()
-        else
-          obj = if @options.emptyTag != '' then @options.emptyTag else emptyStr
+        obj = emptyTag
+      else if (hasNoContent obj)
+        obj['_'] = emptyTag
 
       if @options.validator?
         xpath = "/" + (node["#name"] for node in stack).concat(nodeName).join("/")
diff --git a/test/parser.test.coffee b/test/parser.test.coffee
index f2758759..5243554c 100644
--- a/test/parser.test.coffee
+++ b/test/parser.test.coffee
@@ -313,6 +313,32 @@ module.exports =
     equ r.sample.listtest[0].item[1], 'Qux.'
     equ r.sample.listtest[0].item[2], 'Quux.')
 
+  'test parseStringPromise with emptyTag and explicitArray': (test) ->
+    xml = """
+      <test xmlns="http://example.com/namespace">
+        <value1>value1</value1>
+        <value2></value2>
+        <value3 xmlns="http://example.com/namespace">value3</value3>
+        <value4 xmlns="http://example.com/namespace"></value4>
+      </test>
+    """
+    parser = new xml2js.Parser
+      emptyTag: '--EMPTY--'
+      explicitArray: false
+
+    parser.parseStringPromise(xml)
+      .then (result) ->
+        equ result.test.$?.xmlns, 'http://example.com/namespace'
+        equ result.test.value1, 'value1'
+        equ result.test.value2, '--EMPTY--'
+        equ result.test.value3._, 'value3'
+        equ result.test.value3.$?.xmlns, 'http://example.com/namespace'
+        equ result.test.value4._, '--EMPTY--'
+        equ result.test.value4.$?.xmlns, 'http://example.com/namespace'
+        test.finish()
+      .catch (err) ->
+        test.fail('Should not error: ' + err)
+
   'test simple callback mode': (test) ->
     x2js = new xml2js.Parser()
     fs.readFile fileName, (err, data) ->