diff --git a/ext/dom/element.c b/ext/dom/element.c
index 348c669e1b4a2..7b8871c1bbe09 100644
--- a/ext/dom/element.c
+++ b/ext/dom/element.c
@@ -1023,11 +1023,6 @@ static void dom_remove_eliminated_ns(xmlNodePtr node, xmlNsPtr eliminatedNs)
 
 		if (node->type == XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
 			dom_remove_eliminated_ns_single_element(node, eliminatedNs);
-
-			if (node->children) {
-				node = node->children;
-				continue;
-			}
 		}
 
 		node = php_dom_next_in_tree_order(node, base);
diff --git a/ext/dom/namespace_compat.c b/ext/dom/namespace_compat.c
index 96fc90d08138b..dd5bc685b5412 100644
--- a/ext/dom/namespace_compat.c
+++ b/ext/dom/namespace_compat.c
@@ -439,11 +439,6 @@ PHP_DOM_EXPORT void php_dom_libxml_reconcile_modern(php_dom_libxml_ns_mapper *ns
 
 		if (node->type == XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
 			php_dom_libxml_reconcile_modern_single_element_node(&ctx, node);
-
-			if (node->children) {
-				node = node->children;
-				continue;
-			}
 		}
 
 		node = php_dom_next_in_tree_order(node, base);
diff --git a/ext/dom/php_dom.c b/ext/dom/php_dom.c
index 7c7505015055f..3e90db31db7e3 100644
--- a/ext/dom/php_dom.c
+++ b/ext/dom/php_dom.c
@@ -1762,11 +1762,6 @@ xmlNode *dom_get_elements_by_tag_name_ns_raw(xmlNodePtr basep, xmlNodePtr nodep,
 					(*cur)++;
 				}
 			}
-
-			if (nodep->children) {
-				nodep = nodep->children;
-				continue;
-			}
 		}
 
 		nodep = php_dom_next_in_tree_order(nodep, basep);
diff --git a/ext/dom/xml_common.h b/ext/dom/xml_common.h
index 2c9e1f9e413fd..ec555f3d0f128 100644
--- a/ext/dom/xml_common.h
+++ b/ext/dom/xml_common.h
@@ -91,6 +91,10 @@ static zend_always_inline php_dom_libxml_ns_mapper *php_dom_get_ns_mapper(dom_ob
 
 static zend_always_inline xmlNodePtr php_dom_next_in_tree_order(const xmlNode *nodep, const xmlNode *basep)
 {
+	if (nodep->type == XML_ELEMENT_NODE && nodep->children) {
+		return nodep->children;
+	}
+
 	if (nodep->next) {
 		return nodep->next;
 	} else {
diff --git a/ext/dom/xml_document.c b/ext/dom/xml_document.c
index fd5ded5b1a66d..c5ff51943e6f7 100644
--- a/ext/dom/xml_document.c
+++ b/ext/dom/xml_document.c
@@ -77,11 +77,6 @@ static void dom_mark_namespaces_as_attributes_too(php_dom_libxml_ns_mapper *ns_m
 	while (node != NULL) {
 		if (node->type == XML_ELEMENT_NODE) {
 			php_dom_ns_compat_mark_attribute_list(ns_mapper, node);
-
-			if (node->children) {
-				node = node->children;
-				continue;
-			}
 		}
 
 		node = php_dom_next_in_tree_order(node, NULL);
diff --git a/ext/xsl/xsltprocessor.c b/ext/xsl/xsltprocessor.c
index 7dc040c1d234e..cbbb308927ca8 100644
--- a/ext/xsl/xsltprocessor.c
+++ b/ext/xsl/xsltprocessor.c
@@ -155,11 +155,6 @@ static void xsl_build_ns_map(xmlHashTablePtr table, xsltStylesheetPtr sheet, php
 					xsl_add_ns_to_map(table, sheet, cur, prefix, ns->href);
 				}
 			}
-
-			if (cur->children != NULL) {
-				cur = cur->children;
-				continue;
-			}
 		}
 
 		cur = php_dom_next_in_tree_order(cur, (const xmlNode *) doc);