diff --git a/luamml-structelemwriter.lua b/luamml-structelemwriter.lua
index d681ff5..deda960 100644
--- a/luamml-structelemwriter.lua
+++ b/luamml-structelemwriter.lua
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ local function write_elem(tree, stash)
     end)
   end
   for _, elem in ipairs(tree) do
-    if type(elem) ~= 'string' then
+    if type(elem) ~= 'string'  and not elem['tex:ignore']  then
       write_elem(elem)
     end
   end
diff --git a/luamml-xmlwriter.lua b/luamml-xmlwriter.lua
index 6880074..ad67845 100644
--- a/luamml-xmlwriter.lua
+++ b/luamml-xmlwriter.lua
@@ -48,7 +48,9 @@ local function write_elem(tree, indent)
       out = out .. escape_text(elem)
       is_string = true
     else
-      out = out .. write_elem(elem, inner_indent)
+      if not elem['tex:ignore'] then
+        out = out .. write_elem(elem, inner_indent)
+      end
       is_string = nil
     end
   end