diff --git a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/mobiml.py b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/mobiml.py
index 479afa3d06..7cda4b0a57 100644
--- a/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/mobiml.py
+++ b/src/calibre/ebooks/mobi/mobiml.py
@@ -568,7 +568,11 @@ class MobiMLizer(object):
         if isblock:
             para = bstate.para
             if para is not None and para.text == u'\xa0' and len(para) < 1:
-                para.getparent().replace(para, etree.Element(XHTML('br')))
+                if style.height > 2:
+                    para.getparent().replace(para, etree.Element(XHTML('br')))
+                else:
+                    # This is too small to be rendered effectively, drop it
+                    para.getparent().remove(para)
             bstate.para = None
             bstate.istate = None
             vmargin = asfloat(style['margin-bottom'])