diff --git a/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveContentVisitor.java b/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveContentVisitor.java
index 07fb859610f..e9822497e4b 100644
--- a/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveContentVisitor.java
+++ b/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveContentVisitor.java
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ public Xml visitTag(Xml.Tag tag, P p) {
                     List<Content> contents = new ArrayList<>(t.getContent());
                     contents.remove(content);
 
-                    if (removeEmptyAncestors && contents.isEmpty()) {
+                    if (removeEmptyAncestors && contents.isEmpty() && t.getAttributes().isEmpty()) {
                         if (getCursor().getParentOrThrow().getValue() instanceof Xml.Document) {
                             return t.withContent(null).withClosing(null);
                         } else {
diff --git a/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTags.java b/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTags.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..f04ac2fd1a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rewrite-xml/src/main/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTags.java
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 the original author or authors.
+ * <p>
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * <p>
+ * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * <p>
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.openrewrite.xml;
+
+import org.openrewrite.Recipe;
+import org.openrewrite.ExecutionContext;
+import org.openrewrite.TreeVisitor;
+import org.openrewrite.xml.tree.Xml;
+
+public class RemoveEmptyXmlTags extends Recipe {
+    @Override
+    public String getDisplayName() {
+        return "Remove empty XML Tag";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public String getDescription() {
+        return "Removes XML tags that do not have attributes or children, including self closing tags.";
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    public TreeVisitor<?, ExecutionContext> getVisitor() {
+        return new XmlIsoVisitor<ExecutionContext>() {
+            @Override
+            public Xml.Tag visitTag(Xml.Tag tag, ExecutionContext ctx) {
+                Xml.Tag t = super.visitTag(tag, ctx);
+                if (t != null && (t.getContent() == null || t.getContent().isEmpty()) && t.getAttributes().isEmpty()) {
+                    doAfterVisit(new RemoveContentVisitor<>(t, true));
+                }
+                return t;
+            }
+        };
+    }
+}
diff --git a/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTagsTest.java b/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTagsTest.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a6de07060fd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveEmptyXmlTagsTest.java
@@ -0,0 +1,102 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2023 the original author or authors.
+ * <p>
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ * <p>
+ * https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ * <p>
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+package org.openrewrite.xml;
+
+import org.junit.jupiter.api.Test;
+import org.openrewrite.test.RewriteTest;
+
+import static org.openrewrite.xml.Assertions.xml;
+
+class RemoveEmptyXmlTagsTest implements RewriteTest {
+    @Test
+    void removeEmptyPluginRepositories() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          spec -> spec.recipe(new RemoveEmptyXmlTags()),
+          xml(
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+                  <pluginRepositories>
+                  </pluginRepositories>
+              </project>
+              """,
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+              </project>
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void removeNestedEmptyTags() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          spec -> spec.recipe(new RemoveEmptyXmlTags()),
+          xml(
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+                  <build>
+                      <pluginManagement>
+                          <plugins>
+                              <plugin/>
+                          </plugins>
+                      </pluginManagement>
+                  </build>
+              </project>
+              """,
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+              </project>
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
+
+    @Test
+    void retainWhenThereAttributes() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          spec -> spec.recipe(new RemoveEmptyXmlTags()),
+          xml(
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+                  <build attr="true">
+                  </build>
+                  <dependencies attr="false" />
+              </project>
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveXmlTagTest.java b/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveXmlTagTest.java
index 1eddad69405..5737af78f46 100644
--- a/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveXmlTagTest.java
+++ b/rewrite-xml/src/test/java/org/openrewrite/xml/RemoveXmlTagTest.java
@@ -102,4 +102,60 @@ void fileMatcherEmpty() {
           )
         );
     }
+
+    @Test
+    void removeEmptyParentTag() {
+        rewriteRun(
+          spec -> spec.recipe(new RemoveXmlTag("//project/build/pluginManagement/plugins/plugin", null)),
+          xml(
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+                  <build>
+                      <pluginManagement>
+                          <plugins>
+                              <plugin>
+                                  <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                                  <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                                  <version>3.8.1</version>
+                              </plugin>
+                          </plugins>
+                      </pluginManagement>
+                      <plugins>
+                          <plugin>
+                              <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                              <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                              <configuration>
+                                  <release>11</release>
+                              </configuration>
+                          </plugin>
+                      </plugins>
+                  </build>
+              </project>
+              """,
+            """
+              <project>
+                  <modelVersion>4.0.0</modelVersion>
+                  <groupId>com.example</groupId>
+                  <artifactId>sample-app</artifactId>
+                  <version>1.0-SNAPSHOT</version>
+                  <build>
+                      <plugins>
+                          <plugin>
+                              <groupId>org.apache.maven.plugins</groupId>
+                              <artifactId>maven-compiler-plugin</artifactId>
+                              <configuration>
+                                  <release>11</release>
+                              </configuration>
+                          </plugin>
+                      </plugins>
+                  </build>
+              </project>
+              """
+          )
+        );
+    }
 }