Index: t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php
===================================================================
--- t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php	(revision 8184)
+++ t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php	(working copy)
@@ -960,6 +960,7 @@
 	 * @param	string	$tagName (optional)	the name of the HTML element that should be used (span by default)
 	 */
 	protected static function buildSpriteHtmlIconTag(array $tagAttributes, $innerHtml = ' ', $tagName = 'span') {
+		$innerHtml = (empty($innerHtml) ? ' ' : $innerHtml);
 		$attributes = '';
 		foreach ($tagAttributes as $attribute => $value) {
 			$attributes .= ' ' . htmlspecialchars($attribute) . '="' . htmlspecialchars($value) . '"';