diff --git a/lib/css-tools.js b/lib/css-tools.js
index ba8708bc..b2a1f5ff 100644
--- a/lib/css-tools.js
+++ b/lib/css-tools.js
@@ -189,7 +189,10 @@ function csstreeToStyleDeclaration(declaration) {
  * @return {string|Array} CSS string or empty array if no styles are set
  */
 function getCssStr(elem) {
-  return elem.content[0].text || elem.content[0].cdata || [];
+  if (elem.content[0].type === 'text' || elem.content[0].type === 'cdata') {
+    return elem.content[0].value;
+  }
+  return '';
 }
 
 /**
@@ -200,15 +203,11 @@ function getCssStr(elem) {
  * @return {Object} reference to field with CSS
  */
 function setCssStr(elem, css) {
-  // in case of cdata field
-  if (elem.content[0].cdata) {
-    elem.content[0].cdata = css;
-    return elem.content[0].cdata;
+  if (elem.content[0].type === 'text' || elem.content[0].type === 'cdata') {
+    elem.content[0].value = css;
+    return elem.content[0].value;
   }
-
-  // in case of text field + if nothing was set yet
-  elem.content[0].text = css;
-  return elem.content[0].text;
+  return css;
 }
 
 module.exports.flattenToSelectors = flattenToSelectors;
diff --git a/lib/style.js b/lib/style.js
index 9d95624d..ae9fb6c8 100644
--- a/lib/style.js
+++ b/lib/style.js
@@ -154,8 +154,9 @@ const computeStyle = (node) => {
     ) {
       const children = styleNode.content || [];
       for (const child of children) {
-        const css = child.text || child.cdata;
-        stylesheet.push(...parseStylesheet(css, dynamic));
+        if (child.type === 'text' || child.type === 'cdata') {
+          stylesheet.push(...parseStylesheet(child.value, dynamic));
+        }
       }
     }
   }
diff --git a/lib/svgo/css-select-adapter.js b/lib/svgo/css-select-adapter.js
index ffb5c0cb..d8fbd583 100644
--- a/lib/svgo/css-select-adapter.js
+++ b/lib/svgo/css-select-adapter.js
@@ -40,7 +40,10 @@ const getSiblings = (elem) => {
 };
 
 const getText = (node) => {
-  return node.content[0].text || node.content[0].cdata || '';
+  if (node.content[0].type === 'text' && node.content[0].type === 'cdata') {
+    return node.content[0].value;
+  }
+  return '';
 };
 
 const hasAttrib = (elem, name) => {
diff --git a/lib/svgo/js2svg.js b/lib/svgo/js2svg.js
index 5ba604ae..61279a8f 100644
--- a/lib/svgo/js2svg.js
+++ b/lib/svgo/js2svg.js
@@ -99,16 +99,16 @@ JS2SVG.prototype.convert = function (data) {
     data.content.forEach(function (item) {
       if (item.elem) {
         svg += this.createElem(item);
-      } else if (item.text) {
-        svg += this.createText(item.text);
+      } else if (item.type === 'text') {
+        svg += this.createText(item);
       } else if (item.type === 'doctype') {
         svg += this.createDoctype(item);
       } else if (item.type === 'instruction') {
         svg += this.createProcInst(item);
       } else if (item.type === 'comment') {
         svg += this.createComment(item);
-      } else if (item.cdata) {
-        svg += this.createCDATA(item.cdata);
+      } else if (item.type === 'cdata') {
+        svg += this.createCDATA(item);
       }
     }, this);
   }
@@ -184,9 +184,10 @@ JS2SVG.prototype.createComment = function (node) {
  *
  * @return {String}
  */
-JS2SVG.prototype.createCDATA = function (cdata) {
+JS2SVG.prototype.createCDATA = function (node) {
+  const { value } = node;
   return (
-    this.createIndent() + this.config.cdataStart + cdata + this.config.cdataEnd
+    this.createIndent() + this.config.cdataStart + value + this.config.cdataEnd
   );
 };
 
@@ -308,11 +309,12 @@ JS2SVG.prototype.createAttrs = function (elem) {
  *
  * @return {String}
  */
-JS2SVG.prototype.createText = function (text) {
+JS2SVG.prototype.createText = function (node) {
+  const { value } = node;
   return (
     this.createIndent() +
     this.config.textStart +
-    text.replace(this.config.regEntities, this.config.encodeEntity) +
+    value.replace(this.config.regEntities, this.config.encodeEntity) +
     (this.textContext ? '' : this.config.textEnd)
   );
 };
diff --git a/lib/svgo/svg2js.js b/lib/svgo/svg2js.js
index b77f3049..35e5d97a 100644
--- a/lib/svgo/svg2js.js
+++ b/lib/svgo/svg2js.js
@@ -74,7 +74,8 @@ module.exports = function (data) {
 
   sax.oncdata = function (cdata) {
     pushToContent({
-      cdata: cdata,
+      type: 'cdata',
+      value: cdata,
     });
   };
 
@@ -115,9 +116,15 @@ module.exports = function (data) {
   sax.ontext = function (text) {
     // prevent trimming of meaningful whitespace inside textual tags
     if (textElems.includes(current.elem) && !data.prefix) {
-      pushToContent({ text: text });
+      pushToContent({
+        type: 'text',
+        value: text,
+      });
     } else if (/\S/.test(text)) {
-      pushToContent({ text: text.trim() });
+      pushToContent({
+        type: 'text',
+        value: text.trim(),
+      });
     }
   };
 
diff --git a/plugins/minifyStyles.js b/plugins/minifyStyles.js
index ef3e504a..9df19578 100755
--- a/plugins/minifyStyles.js
+++ b/plugins/minifyStyles.js
@@ -38,17 +38,18 @@ exports.fn = function (ast, options) {
 
   elems.forEach(function (elem) {
     if (elem.isElem('style')) {
-      // <style> element
-      var styleCss = elem.content[0].text || elem.content[0].cdata || [];
-      var DATA =
-        styleCss.indexOf('>') >= 0 || styleCss.indexOf('<') >= 0
-          ? 'cdata'
-          : 'text';
-
-      elem.content[0][DATA] = csso.minify(
-        styleCss,
-        minifyOptionsForStylesheet
-      ).css;
+      if (elem.content[0].type === 'text' || elem.content[0].type === 'cdata') {
+        const styleCss = elem.content[0].value;
+        const minified = csso.minify(styleCss, minifyOptionsForStylesheet).css;
+        // TODO figure out if this check is necessary
+        if (styleCss.indexOf('>') >= 0 || styleCss.indexOf('<') >= 0) {
+          elem.content[0].type = 'cdata';
+          elem.content[0].value = minified;
+        } else {
+          elem.content[0].type = 'text';
+          elem.content[0].value = minified;
+        }
+      }
     } else {
       // style attribute
       var elemStyle = elem.attr('style').value;
diff --git a/plugins/prefixIds.js b/plugins/prefixIds.js
index 03f4a944..02007f4d 100755
--- a/plugins/prefixIds.js
+++ b/plugins/prefixIds.js
@@ -203,7 +203,10 @@ exports.fn = function (node, opts, extra) {
       return node;
     }
 
-    var cssStr = node.content[0].text || node.content[0].cdata || [];
+    var cssStr = '';
+    if (node.content[0].type === 'text' || node.content[0].type === 'cdata') {
+      cssStr = node.content[0].value;
+    }
 
     var cssAst = {};
     try {
@@ -246,7 +249,7 @@ exports.fn = function (node, opts, extra) {
     });
 
     // update <style>s
-    node.content[0].text = csstree.generate(cssAst);
+    node.content[0].value = csstree.generate(cssAst);
     return node;
   }
 
diff --git a/plugins/removeDesc.js b/plugins/removeDesc.js
index a29a3716..d4a3d17e 100644
--- a/plugins/removeDesc.js
+++ b/plugins/removeDesc.js
@@ -30,7 +30,8 @@ exports.fn = function (item, params) {
     !(
       params.removeAny ||
       item.isEmpty() ||
-      standardDescs.test(item.content[0].text)
+      (item.content[0].type === 'text' &&
+        standardDescs.test(item.content[0].value))
     )
   );
 };
diff --git a/test/svg2js/_index.js b/test/svg2js/_index.js
index ce65d710..8f8439e6 100644
--- a/test/svg2js/_index.js
+++ b/test/svg2js/_index.js
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ describe('svg2js', function () {
     describe('text nodes', function () {
       it('should contain preserved whitespace', function () {
         const textNode = root.content[3].content[1].content[0].content[1];
-        return expect(textNode.content[0].text).to.equal('  test  ');
+        return expect(textNode.content[0].value).to.equal('  test  ');
       });
     });