File: Data.xml
<colors>
<color>red</color>
<color>yellow</color>
<color>blue</color>
<!--
Next color element has whitespace content.
-->
<color></color>
</colors>
File: Transform.xslt
<xsl:stylesheet xmlns:xsl="http://www.w3.org/1999/XSL/Transform"
version="1.0">
<xsl:output method="xml" omit-xml-declaration="yes" />
<xsl:strip-space elements="colors" />
<xsl:template match="@*|node()">
<xsl:copy>
<xsl:apply-templates select="@*|node()" />
</xsl:copy>
</xsl:template>
</xsl:stylesheet>
Output:
<colors><color>red</color><color>yellow</color><color>blue</color><!--
Next color element has whitespace content.
--><color/></colors>
|