diff --git a/render/box.c b/render/box.c
index dc745f6be..ebe69c34f 100644
--- a/render/box.c
+++ b/render/box.c
@@ -132,7 +132,7 @@ struct box * box_create(css_select_results *styles, css_computed_style *style,
 	
 	box->type = BOX_INLINE;
 	box->flags = 0;
-	box->flags = style_owned ? box->flags | STYLE_OWNED : box->flags;
+	box->flags = style_owned ? (box->flags | STYLE_OWNED) : box->flags;
 	box->styles = styles;
 	box->style = style;
 	box->x = box->y = 0;
@@ -150,7 +150,6 @@ struct box * box_create(css_select_results *styles, css_computed_style *style,
 	box->length = 0;
 	box->space = 0;
 	box->clone = 0;
-	box->strip_leading_newline = 0;
 	box->href = href;
 	box->target = target;
 	box->title = title;
diff --git a/render/box.h b/render/box.h
index 3d00db98e..441e3d9f7 100644
--- a/render/box.h
+++ b/render/box.h
@@ -120,7 +120,8 @@ typedef enum {
 typedef enum {
 	NEW_LINE    = 1 << 0,	/* first inline on a new line */
 	STYLE_OWNED = 1 << 1,	/* style is owned by this box */
-	PRINTED     = 1 << 2	/* box has already been printed */
+	PRINTED     = 1 << 2,	/* box has already been printed */
+	PRE_STRIP   = 1 << 3	/* PRE tag needing leading newline stripped */
 } box_flags;
 
 /* Sides of a box */
@@ -205,10 +206,6 @@ struct box {
 	/** This box is a continuation of the previous box (eg from line
 	 * breaking). */
 	unsigned int clone : 1;
-	/** This box represents a <pre> tag which has not yet had its white
-	 * space stripped if possible
-	 */
-	unsigned int strip_leading_newline : 1;
 
 	char *href;   /**< Link, or 0. */
 	const char *target;  /**< Link target, or 0. */
diff --git a/render/box_construct.c b/render/box_construct.c
index 092edb3ba..d99e5deec 100644
--- a/render/box_construct.c
+++ b/render/box_construct.c
@@ -302,10 +302,10 @@ bool box_construct_element(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 	gui_multitask();
 
 	/* In case the parent is a pre block, we clear the
-	 * strip_leading_newline flag since it is not used if we
+	 * PRE_STRIP flag since it is not used if we
 	 * follow the pre with a tag
 	 */
-	parent->strip_leading_newline = 0;
+	parent->flags &= ~PRE_STRIP;
 
 	styles = box_get_style(content, parent_style, n);
 	if (!styles)
@@ -824,7 +824,7 @@ bool box_construct_text(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 		current = text;
 
 		/* swallow a single leading new line */
-		if (parent->strip_leading_newline) {
+		if (parent->flags & PRE_STRIP) {
 			switch (*current) {
 			case '\n':
 				current++; break;
@@ -833,7 +833,7 @@ bool box_construct_text(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 				if (*current == '\n') current++;
 				break;
 			}
-			parent->strip_leading_newline = 0;
+			parent->flags &= ~PRE_STRIP;
 		}
 
 		do {
@@ -1079,7 +1079,7 @@ bool box_br(BOX_SPECIAL_PARAMS)
 
 bool box_pre(BOX_SPECIAL_PARAMS)
 {
-	box->strip_leading_newline = 1;
+	box->flags |= PRE_STRIP;
 	return true;
 }