diff --git a/OpenXmlPowerTools.Tests/MarkupSimplifierTests.cs b/OpenXmlPowerTools.Tests/MarkupSimplifierTests.cs
index 5bc7ab7b..71408483 100644
--- a/OpenXmlPowerTools.Tests/MarkupSimplifierTests.cs
+++ b/OpenXmlPowerTools.Tests/MarkupSimplifierTests.cs
@@ -12,8 +12,7 @@ public class MarkupSimplifierTests
     {
         private const WordprocessingDocumentType DocumentType = WordprocessingDocumentType.Document;
 
-        private const string SmartTagDocumentTextValue = "The countries include Algeria, Botswana, and Sri Lanka.";
-
+        private const string SmartTagDocumentTextValue = "The countries include Algeria, Botswana, and Sri Lanka.  This is privileged information!";
         private const string SmartTagDocumentXmlString =
 @"<w:document xmlns:w=""http://schemas.openxmlformats.org/wordprocessingml/2006/main"">
   <w:body>
@@ -45,7 +44,18 @@ public class MarkupSimplifierTests
         </w:smartTag>
       </w:smartTag>
       <w:r>
-        <w:t>.</w:t>
+        <w:t xml:space=""preserve"">.  This is </w:t>
+			</w:r>
+			<w:smartTag w:uri=""schemas-workshare-com/workshare"" w:element=""confidentialinformationexposure"">
+				<w:smartTagPr>
+					<w:attr w:name=""TagType"" w:val=""5""/>
+				</w:smartTagPr>
+				<w:r>
+					<w:t>privileged</w:t>
+				</w:r>
+			</w:smartTag>
+			<w:r>
+				<w:t xml:space=""preserve""> information!</w:t>
       </w:r>
     </w:p>
   </w:body>
diff --git a/OpenXmlPowerTools/MarkupSimplifier.cs b/OpenXmlPowerTools/MarkupSimplifier.cs
index 1240e78b..a6f4dabb 100644
--- a/OpenXmlPowerTools/MarkupSimplifier.cs
+++ b/OpenXmlPowerTools/MarkupSimplifier.cs
@@ -191,14 +191,20 @@ private static object RemoveCustomXmlAndContentControlsTransform(
         {
             if (node is XElement element)
             {
-                if (simplifyMarkupSettings.RemoveSmartTags &&
-                    element.Name == W.smartTag)
+                if (simplifyMarkupSettings.RemoveSmartTags)
                 {
-                    return element
-                        .Elements()
-                        .Select(e =>
-                            RemoveCustomXmlAndContentControlsTransform(e,
-                                simplifyMarkupSettings));
+                    if (element.Name == W.smartTag)
+                    {
+                        return element
+                            .Elements()
+                            .Select(e =>
+                                RemoveCustomXmlAndContentControlsTransform(e,
+                                    simplifyMarkupSettings));
+                    }
+                    if (element.Name == W.smartTagPr)
+                    {
+                        return null;
+                    }
                 }
 
                 if (simplifyMarkupSettings.RemoveContentControls &&