@namespace html url(http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml); @namespace a url(http://www.example.org/a); @namespace b url(http://www.example.org/b); div.stub > *|* { background-color : lime ; display : block ; margin-bottom : 1em } div.stub > *|*:not(*) { background-color : red } /* yes, the rule just above selects nothing... That's the point */