Index: t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php
===================================================================
--- t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php	(Revision 8265)
+++ t3lib/class.t3lib_iconworks.php	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -635,8 +635,8 @@
 	 * @access public
 	 */
 	public static function getSpriteIcon($iconName, array $options = array(), array $overlays = array()) {
-		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : '');
-		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : 'span');
+		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : NULL);
+		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : NULL);
 
 			// deal with the overlays
 		if (count($overlays)) {
@@ -672,8 +672,8 @@
 	 * @access public
 	 */
 	public static function getSpriteIconForFile($fileExtension, array $options = array()) {
-		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : '');
-		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : 'span');
+		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : NULL);
+		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : NULL);
 
 			// create the CSS class
 		$options['class'] = self::mapFileExtensionToSpriteIconClass($fileExtension) . (isset($options['class']) ? ' ' . $options['class'] : '');
@@ -733,8 +733,8 @@
 	 * @access public
 	 */
 	public static function getSpriteIconForRecord($table, array $row, array $options = array()) {
-		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : '');
-		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : 'span');
+		$innerHtml = (isset($options['html'])    ? $options['html']    : NULL);
+		$tagName   = (isset($options['tagName']) ? $options['tagName'] : NULL);
 
 			// overlay this record icon with the status of the row
 		$overlaySpriteIconName = self::mapRecordOverlayToSpriteIconName($table, $row);
@@ -959,7 +959,9 @@
 	 * @param	string	$innerHtml (optional)	the content within the tag, a " " by default
 	 * @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') {
+	protected static function buildSpriteHtmlIconTag(array $tagAttributes, $innerHtml = NULL, $tagName = NULL) {
+		$innerHtml = ($innerHtml === NULL ? ' ': $innerHtml);
+		$tagName = ($tagName === NULL ? 'span' : $tagName);
 		$attributes = '';
 		foreach ($tagAttributes as $attribute => $value) {
 			$attributes .= ' ' . htmlspecialchars($attribute) . '="' . htmlspecialchars($value) . '"';
Index: typo3/stylesheets/visual/main_content.css
===================================================================
--- typo3/stylesheets/visual/main_content.css	(Revision 8265)
+++ typo3/stylesheets/visual/main_content.css	(Arbeitskopie)
@@ -18,6 +18,9 @@
 .t3-icon {
 	background-image:url('../../gfx/icon_fatalerror.gif');
 	background-repeat:no-repeat;
+	font-size:1px;
+	line-height:0px;
+	text-indent:-999em;
 }
 .t3-icon .c-inputButton {
 	width:16px;