diff --git a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/sass/_lists.scss b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/sass/_lists.scss
index 85fbdee0d6..9b62f41a25 100644
--- a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/sass/_lists.scss
+++ b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/sass/_lists.scss
@@ -22,14 +22,10 @@ ul.simple {
   margin-top: 1em;
 }
 
-*[compact="yes"] > li {
+.compact > li {
   margin-top: 0;
 }
 
-*[compact="no"] > li {
-  margin-top: 0.53em;
-}
-
 .liexpand {
   margin-bottom: 1em;
   margin-top: 1em;
diff --git a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/xsl/topic.xsl b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/xsl/topic.xsl
index acc3b3d7d2..da16b83d70 100644
--- a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/xsl/topic.xsl
+++ b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.html5/xsl/topic.xsl
@@ -637,8 +637,9 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:apply-templates select="*[contains(@class, ' ditaot-d/ditaval-startprop ')]" mode="out-of-line"/>
     <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
     <ul>
-      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-      <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+        <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+      </xsl:call-template>
       <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
     </ul>
@@ -652,9 +653,12 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
     <ul>
       <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
-        <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'simple'"/>
+        <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class">
+          <xsl:value-of select="'simple',
+                                'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"
+                        separator=" "/>
+        </xsl:with-param>
       </xsl:call-template>
-      <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
       <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
     </ul>
@@ -668,8 +672,9 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:apply-templates select="*[contains(@class, ' ditaot-d/ditaval-startprop ')]" mode="out-of-line"/>
     <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
     <ol>
-      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-      <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+        <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+      </xsl:call-template>
       <xsl:choose>
         <xsl:when test="$olcount mod 3 = 1"/>
         <xsl:when test="$olcount mod 3 = 2"><xsl:attribute name="type">a</xsl:attribute></xsl:when>
@@ -753,12 +758,11 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
     <xsl:apply-templates select="*[contains(@class, ' ditaot-d/ditaval-startprop ')]" mode="out-of-line"/>
     <dl>
-      <!-- handle DL compacting - default=yes -->
-      <xsl:if test="@compact = 'no'">
-        <xsl:attribute name="class">dlexpand</xsl:attribute>
-      </xsl:if>
-      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-      <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+      <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+        <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class">
+          <xsl:value-of select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+        </xsl:with-param>
+      </xsl:call-template>
       <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
       <xsl:apply-templates/>
     </dl>
@@ -1960,13 +1964,6 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:attribute name="dir" select="."/>
   </xsl:template>
   
-  <!-- if the element has a compact=yes attribute, assert it in XHTML form -->
-  <xsl:template match="@compact">
-    <xsl:if test=". = 'yes'">
-     <xsl:attribute name="compact">compact</xsl:attribute><!-- assumes that no compaction is default -->
-    </xsl:if>
-  </xsl:template>
-  
   <xsl:template name="setscale">
     <xsl:if test="@scale">
   <!--    <xsl:attribute name="style">font-size: <xsl:value-of select="@scale"/>%;</xsl:attribute> -->
diff --git a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonltr.css b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonltr.css
index f55bcb0689..d0f173daa0 100644
--- a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonltr.css
+++ b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonltr.css
@@ -325,12 +325,9 @@ ul.simple {
   font-weight: bold;
   margin-top: 1em;
 }
-*[compact="yes"] > li {
+.compact > li {
   margin-top: 0;
 }
-*[compact="no"] > li {
-  margin-top: .53em;
-}
 .liexpand {
   margin-top: 1em;
   margin-bottom: 1em;
diff --git a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonrtl.css b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonrtl.css
index 687e153dba..8e77abee41 100644
--- a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonrtl.css
+++ b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/resource/commonrtl.css
@@ -329,12 +329,9 @@ ul.simple {
   font-weight: bold;
   margin-top: 1em;
 }
-*[compact="yes"] > li {
+.compact > li {
   margin-top: 0;
 }
-*[compact="no"] > li {
-  margin-top: .53em;
-}
 .liexpand {
   margin-top: 1em;
   margin-bottom: 1em;
diff --git a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/xsl/xslhtml/dita2htmlImpl.xsl b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/xsl/xslhtml/dita2htmlImpl.xsl
index 479dbb41cc..c2e3ef9568 100644
--- a/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/xsl/xslhtml/dita2htmlImpl.xsl
+++ b/src/main/plugins/org.dita.xhtml/xsl/xslhtml/dita2htmlImpl.xsl
@@ -781,8 +781,9 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
   <xsl:apply-templates select="*[contains(@class, ' ditaot-d/ditaval-startprop ')]" mode="out-of-line"/>
   <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
   <ul>
-    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+      <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+    </xsl:call-template>
     <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
     <xsl:apply-templates/>
   </ul>
@@ -797,9 +798,12 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
   <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
   <ul>
     <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
-      <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'simple'"/>
+      <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class">
+        <xsl:value-of select="'simple',
+                              'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"
+                      separator=" "/>
+      </xsl:with-param>
     </xsl:call-template>
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
     <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
     <xsl:apply-templates/>
   </ul>
@@ -814,8 +818,9 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
   <xsl:apply-templates select="*[contains(@class, ' ditaot-d/ditaval-startprop ')]" mode="out-of-line"/>
   <xsl:call-template name="setaname"/>
   <ol>
-    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+      <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class" select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+    </xsl:call-template>
     <xsl:choose>
       <xsl:when test="$olcount mod 3 = 1"/>
       <xsl:when test="$olcount mod 3 = 2"><xsl:attribute name="type">a</xsl:attribute></xsl:when>
@@ -909,8 +914,11 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
     <xsl:if test="@compact = 'no'">
       <xsl:attribute name="class">dlexpand</xsl:attribute>
     </xsl:if>
-    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes"/>
-    <xsl:apply-templates select="@compact"/>
+    <xsl:call-template name="commonattributes">
+      <xsl:with-param name="default-output-class">
+        <xsl:value-of select="'compact'[current()/@compact = 'yes']"/>
+      </xsl:with-param>
+    </xsl:call-template>
     <xsl:call-template name="setid"/>
     <xsl:apply-templates/>
   </dl>
@@ -2056,13 +2064,6 @@ See the accompanying LICENSE file for applicable license.
   <xsl:attribute name="dir" select="."/>
 </xsl:template>
 
-<!-- if the element has a compact=yes attribute, assert it in XHTML form -->
-<xsl:template match="@compact">
-  <xsl:if test=". = 'yes'">
-   <xsl:attribute name="compact">compact</xsl:attribute><!-- assumes that no compaction is default -->
-  </xsl:if>
-</xsl:template>
-
 <xsl:template name="setscale">
   <xsl:if test="@scale">
 <!--    <xsl:attribute name="style">font-size: <xsl:value-of select="@scale"/>%;</xsl:attribute> -->