diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 824fbaa01..c864f9350 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 Release 0.6.3 (in development)
 ==============================
 
+* #225: Don't add whitespace in generated HTML after inline tags.
+
 * #227: Make ``literalinclude`` work when the document's path
   name contains non-ASCII characters.
 
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/html.py b/sphinx/writers/html.py
index 76c03c7b1..c15e5ce5b 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/html.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/html.py
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ class HTMLTranslator(BaseTranslator):
         self.body.append('<span class="optional">]</span>')
 
     def visit_desc_annotation(self, node):
-        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'em', CLASS='property'))
+        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'em', '', CLASS='property'))
     def depart_desc_annotation(self, node):
         self.body.append('</em>')
 
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@ class HTMLTranslator(BaseTranslator):
         attrs = {}
         if node.hasattr('explanation'):
             attrs['title'] = node['explanation']
-        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'abbr', **attrs))
+        self.body.append(self.starttag(node, 'abbr', '', **attrs))
     def depart_abbreviation(self, node):
         self.body.append('</abbr>')