diff --git a/jquery.tag-editor.js b/jquery.tag-editor.js
index 02f888d..21f0f0b 100644
--- a/jquery.tag-editor.js
+++ b/jquery.tag-editor.js
@@ -53,14 +53,17 @@
         // delete selected tags on backspace, delete, ctrl+x
         function delete_selected_tags(e){
             if (e.which == 8 || e.which == 46 || e.ctrlKey && e.which == 88) {
-                var sel = getSelection(), el = $(sel.getRangeAt(0).commonAncestorContainer);
-                if (el.hasClass('tag-editor')) {
-                    var tags = [], splits = sel.toString().split(el.prev().data('options').dregex);
-                    for (i=0; i<splits.length; i++){ var tag = $.trim(splits[i]); if (tag) tags.push(tag); }
-                    $('.tag-editor-tag', el).each(function(){
-                        if (~$.inArray($(this).html(), tags)) $(this).closest('li').find('.tag-editor-delete').click();
-                    });
-                    return false;
+                var sel = getSelection();
+                if(sel.anchorNode && sel.anchorNode.className==='tag-editor'){
+                    var el = $(sel.getRangeAt(0).commonAncestorContainer);
+                    if (el.hasClass('tag-editor')) {
+                        var tags = [], splits = sel.toString().split(el.prev().data('options').dregex);
+                        for (i=0; i<splits.length; i++){ var tag = $.trim(splits[i]); if (tag) tags.push(tag); }
+                        $('.tag-editor-tag', el).each(function(){
+                            if (~$.inArray($(this).html(), tags)) $(this).closest('li').find('.tag-editor-delete').click();
+                        });
+                        return false;
+                    }
                 }
             }
         }