diff --git modules/media_wysiwyg/js/media_wysiwyg.filter.js modules/media_wysiwyg/js/media_wysiwyg.filter.js
index 5ac10ec46eb7fc3c571eb0e81c4e715992268aff..e544c8561bdf14672a794f3583765e8991be4318 100644
--- modules/media_wysiwyg/js/media_wysiwyg.filter.js
+++ modules/media_wysiwyg/js/media_wysiwyg.filter.js
@@ -113,7 +113,9 @@
       // Parse out link wrappers. They will be re-applied when the image is
       // rendered on the front-end.
       if (element.is('a')) {
-        element = element.children();
+        if (element.children().length > 0) {
+          element = element.children();
+        }
       }
 
       // Move attributes from the file info array to the placeholder element.