diff -r 79649bf21a92 -r bf6b11347b1a src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/doclets/formats/html/TagletWriterImpl.java
--- a/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/doclets/formats/html/TagletWriterImpl.java	Tue Oct 15 16:23:18 2013 +0200
+++ b/src/share/classes/com/sun/tools/doclets/formats/html/TagletWriterImpl.java	Tue Oct 15 11:20:27 2013 -0700
@@ -118,7 +118,8 @@
                 if (deprs.length > 0) {
                     Content body = commentTagsToOutput(null, doc,
                         deprs[0].inlineTags(), false);
-                    result.addContent(HtmlTree.SPAN(HtmlStyle.italic, body));
+                    if (!body.isEmpty())
+                        result.addContent(HtmlTree.SPAN(HtmlStyle.italic, body));
                 }
             } else {
                 if (Util.isDeprecated(member.containingClass())) {