diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index ea7d566..1abb684 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 1.5.9: 
  * Fixed a Chrome/Safari bug in which ending a link didn't always work.
+ * Fixed a rare Chrome/Safari bug in which pressing backspace sometimes made
+   the text cursor vanish.
 
 1.5.8: November 24, 2008
  * Fixed a bug that prevented notes from being automatically saved in certain
diff --git a/static/js/Editor.js b/static/js/Editor.js
index 9ef625d..4f5659f 100644
--- a/static/js/Editor.js
+++ b/static/js/Editor.js
@@ -329,10 +329,14 @@ Editor.prototype.key_released = function ( event ) {
 Editor.prototype.cleanup_html = function ( key_code ) {
   if ( WEBKIT ) {
     // if enter is pressed while in a title, end title mode, since WebKit doesn't do that for us
-    var ENTER = 13;
+    var ENTER = 13; BACKSPACE = 8;
     if ( key_code == ENTER && this.state_enabled( "h3" ) )
       this.exec_command( "h3" );
 
+    // if backspace is pressed, skip WebKit style scrubbing since it can cause problems
+    if ( key_code == BACKSPACE )
+      return null;
+
     // as of this writing, WebKit doesn't support execCommand( "styleWithCSS" ). for more info, see
     // https://bugs.webkit.org/show_bug.cgi?id=13490
     // so to make up for this shortcoming, manually scrub WebKit style spans and other nodes,
diff --git a/static/js/Wiki.js b/static/js/Wiki.js
index 9faebce..c25fd94 100644
--- a/static/js/Wiki.js
+++ b/static/js/Wiki.js
@@ -1073,6 +1073,10 @@ Wiki.prototype.key_pressed = function ( event ) {
     if ( code == 78 )
       this.create_blank_editor( event );
   }
+
+  // prevent backspace from going back to the previous page
+  if ( code == 8 )
+    event.stop();
 }
 
 Wiki.prototype.editor_key_pressed = function ( editor, event ) {