diff --git a/lib/sax.js b/lib/sax.js
index ffd441a..6dbf587 100644
--- a/lib/sax.js
+++ b/lib/sax.js
@@ -622,7 +622,7 @@
   S = sax.STATE
 
   function emit (parser, event, data) {
-    parser[event] && parser[event](data)
+        parser[event] && parser[event](data)
   }
 
   function emitNode (parser, nodeType, data) {
@@ -680,6 +680,8 @@
   }
 
   function newTag (parser) {
+    // emit text event BEFORE open tag (start) event
+    if (parser.textNode) closeText(parser); 
     if (!parser.strict) parser.tagName = parser.tagName[parser.looseCase]()
     var parent = parser.tags[parser.tags.length - 1] || parser
     var tag = parser.tag = { name: parser.tagName, attributes: {} }
@@ -831,7 +833,9 @@
       } else {
         parser.state = S.TEXT
       }
-      parser.tag = null
+      // do not delete tag here, since we need this in 
+      // non-tag nodes as the containing tag
+      // parser.tag = null
       parser.tagName = ''
     }
     parser.attribName = parser.attribValue = ''
@@ -902,6 +906,8 @@
           emitNode(parser, 'onclosenamespace', { prefix: p, uri: n })
         })
       }
+      // reset the current tag to the containing tag
+      parser.tag = parser.tags[parser.tags.length - 1];
     }
     if (t === 0) parser.closedRoot = true
     parser.tagName = parser.attribValue = parser.attribName = ''
diff --git a/test/issue-261.js b/test/issue-261.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..c3f2764
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/issue-261.js
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * Test that `parser.tag` actually is the containing element of the current node.
+ */
+var sax = require('../lib/sax')
+var tap = require('tap')
+
+var containingTag = "container";
+var modes = ["loose", "strict"];
+
+/**
+ * Types of nodes for which events are tested.
+ */
+var nodeTypes = [
+    {
+        name: "chardata", tag: false, events: ["text"],
+        sample: function (value) { return value }
+    },
+    {
+        name: "comment", tag: false, events: ["comment"],
+        sample: function (value) { return "<!--" + value + "-->" }
+    },
+    {
+        name: "cdsect", tag: false, events: ["cdata, opencdata, closecdata"],
+        sample: function (value) { return "<![CDATA[" + value + "]]>" }
+    },
+    {
+        name: "pi", tag: false, events: ["processinginstruction"],
+        sample: function (value) { return "<?" + value + "?>" }
+    },
+    {
+        name: "element", tag: true, events: ["opentag", "opentagstart", "closetag"],
+        sample: function (value) { return "<" + value + "></" + value + ">" }
+    },
+];
+/**
+ * Create a sample xml chunk within a containing tag.
+ * The result will look like this:
+ * `<inTag>before between after</inTag>`
+ * in which before, between and after are replaced with samples, e.g. (for chardata and comment):
+ * `<inTag>data_1<!--between-->data_2</inTag>`.
+ */
+function createSimpleSample(typeBeforeAfter, typeInBetween) {
+    var before = typeBeforeAfter.sample("data_1");
+    var between = typeInBetween.sample("between");
+    var after = typeBeforeAfter.sample("data_2");
+    return "<" + containingTag + ">" + before + between + after + "</" + containingTag + ">";
+}
+
+/**
+ * Executes actual test for a combination of mode, nodeBeforeAfter and nodeBetween using
+ * `createSimpleSample` to create the xml chunk.
+ */
+function testContainingTagAvailableInNonTag(mode, nodeBeforeAfter, nodeBetween) {
+
+    var xmlChunk = createSimpleSample(nodeBeforeAfter, nodeBetween);
+    var expectedTag = mode === "loose" ? containingTag.toUpperCase() : containingTag;
+    var expectedValues = ["data_1"];
+    if (nodeBetween === nodeBeforeAfter) {
+        expectedValues.push("between");
+    }
+    expectedValues.push("data_2");
+
+    var parser = sax.parser(mode === "strict"); // loose mode or strict mode
+    nodeBeforeAfter.events.forEach(function (event, index) {
+        var iExpectedValueIndex = 0;
+        parser["on" + event] = function (data) {
+            // value correct
+            if (index === 0) {
+                var value = typeof data == 'object' ? data.name : data;
+                var expectedValue = expectedValues[iExpectedValueIndex++];
+                tap.equal(value, expectedValue, "on" + event + ": expected value (" + (iExpectedValueIndex - 1) + ") of " + nodeBeforeAfter.name + " to be '" + expectedValue + "', got '" + value + "' in " + mode + " mode" + ", chunk: " + xmlChunk);
+            }
+            // containing tag correct
+            var tagName = parser.tag ? parser.tag.name : undefined;
+            tap.equal(tagName, expectedTag, "on" + event + ": expected element '" + expectedTag + "', got '" + tagName + "' in " + mode + " mode " + (iExpectedValueIndex == 0 ? "before" : "after") + " " + nodeBetween.name + ", chunk: " + xmlChunk);
+        }
+    });
+    parser.write(xmlChunk);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Creates and runs test combinations for
+ * - different modes (2)
+ * - different types of nodes before and after (5)
+ * - another type of node (5)
+ * 
+ * That makes 2*5*5 = 50 combinations, each one is tested for
+ * - correct value
+ * - correct containing tag
+ * on all kind of events which may be emitted by the parser for the beofre/after node.
+ * 
+ * This results 120 tests (some cases are omitted because they do not make sense).
+ */
+modes.forEach(function (mode) {
+    nodeTypes
+        .filter(function (nodeType) { return !nodeType.tag })
+        .forEach(function (nodeBeforeAfter) {
+            nodeTypes
+                .filter(function (nt) { return nodeBeforeAfter.name !== "chardata" || nt.name != "chardata" })
+                .forEach(function (nodeBetween) {
+                    testContainingTagAvailableInNonTag(mode, nodeBeforeAfter, nodeBetween);
+                });
+        });
+});
\ No newline at end of file