diff --git a/test/test-web.lisp b/test/test-web.lisp
index 919d216..cb5b9a3 100644
--- a/test/test-web.lisp
+++ b/test/test-web.lisp
@@ -46,7 +46,9 @@
                "Link to example.com"))
       (format nil 
               "<a href=\"https://example.com\" title=\"Demo\" ~
-                  class=\"demo-link plain\">Link to example.com</a>")))
+                  class=\"demo-link plain\">Link to example.com</a>"))
+  (== (dom:render (dom:br nil))
+      (format nil "<br>")))
 
 (deftest test-jwt ()
   (let ((secret (crypt:create-secret))
diff --git a/web/dom.lisp b/web/dom.lisp
index 593d89c..106f0b1 100644
--- a/web/dom.lisp
+++ b/web/dom.lisp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
   (make-instance 'xml-element :tag tag :attrs attrs :body body))
 
 (defmethod put ((el xml-element))
-  (let ((tag (string-downcase (tag el)))
+  (let ((tag (tagname el))
         (body (body el)))
     (start tag (attrs el) :close (not body))
     (when body
@@ -39,12 +39,15 @@
         (put c))
       (end tag))))
 
+(defgeneric tagname (el)
+  (:method ((el xml-element)) (string-downcase (tag el))))
+
 ;;;; element = HTML element - no self-closing of empty elements
 
 (defclass element (xml-element) ())
 
 (defmethod put ((el element))
-  (let ((tag (string-downcase (tag el))))
+  (let ((tag (tagname el)))
     (start tag (attrs el))
     (dolist (c (body el))
       (put c))
@@ -60,11 +63,11 @@
 
 (defclass void-element (xml-element) ())
 
-(defun void-element (tag attrs)
+(defun void-element (tag &optional attrs body)
   (make-instance 'void-element :tag tag :attrs attrs))
 
 (defmethod put ((el void-element))
-  (start (tag el) (attrs el)))
+  (start (tagname el) (attrs el)))
 
 ;;;; automatically define standard HTML elements
 
@@ -79,7 +82,7 @@
     (make-elements (a dd div dl dt label)))
 
 (eval-when (:compile-toplevel :load-toplevel :execute)
-    (make-elements (br input) :void-element))
+    (make-elements (br input) void-element))
 
 ;;;; elements with specific functionality