<span> with single space: broken in ie, works in firefox, safari

<span> with single space: broken in ie, works in firefox, safari


$('<span> </span>').contents().length is 1 in firefox and safari, 0 in
ie (6 & 7).
(maybe hard to read: this is a span containing a single space)
I have a work-around: $('<span/>').text(' ').contents().length is 1
everywhere.
jQuery 1.2.6 & 1.3 both.
Marion