diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Group.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Group.scala
index df62ded..bb6352e 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Group.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Group.scala
@@ -165,6 +165,7 @@ class Group[+A <: Node] private[antixml] (private[antixml] val nodes: VectorCase
     new Group(nodes) with Zipper[A] {
       val map = Vector()
       def parent = error("Attempted to move up at root of the tree")
+      override val hasValidContext = false
     }
   }
   
@@ -239,6 +240,8 @@ object Group {
               case group: Group[Node] => group.toZipper
               case _ => error("No zipper context available")
             }
+            
+            override val hasValidContext = from.isInstanceOf[Group[Node]]
           }
         }
       }
@@ -248,6 +251,7 @@ object Group {
           new Group(vec) with Zipper[A] {
             lazy val map = baseMap
             def parent = error("No zipper context available")
+            override val hasValidContext = false
           }
         }
       }
diff --git a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Zipper.scala b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Zipper.scala
index 2430d91..f344a70 100644
--- a/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Zipper.scala
+++ b/src/main/scala/com/codecommit/antixml/Zipper.scala
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ trait Zipper[+A <: Node] extends Group[A] with ScalaCompat { self =>
 
   protected def map: Vector[Option[ZContext]]
   protected def parent: Zipper[Node]
+  protected val hasValidContext = true
 
   // TODO this *may* be a poor choice of words...
   def stripZipper = new Group(toVectorCase)
@@ -67,52 +68,56 @@ trait Zipper[+A <: Node] extends Group[A] with ScalaCompat { self =>
 
   override def flatMap[B, That](f: A => CompatTraversable[B])(implicit cbf: CanBuildFrom[Group[A], B, That]): That = cbf match {
     case cbf: CanBuildFromWithZipper[Group[A], B, That] => {
-      val result = toVectorCase.toVector map f
-
-      val intermedMap = map map {
-        case Some((from, to, rebuild, childMap)) => {
-          // get the mapping from *our* indexes to source indexes
-          val inverseMap = {
-            val maps = for ((source, targets) <- childMap)
-              yield (Map[Int, Int]() /: targets) { (acc, t) => acc + (t -> source) }
-  
-            (Map[Int, Int]() /: maps) { _ ++ _ }
-          }
-  
-          val (_, aggregate, childMap2) = result.slice(from, to).zipWithIndex.foldLeft((0, Vector[B](), Map[Int, Set[Int]]())) {
-            case ((start, acc, childMap2), (chunk, i)) => {
-              val size = chunk.size
-              val source = inverseMap(i)
-  
-              val contrib = Set(start until (start + size): _*)
-              val set2 = childMap2.getOrElse(source, contrib) ++ contrib
+      if (!hasValidContext) {
+        super.flatMap(f)(cbf)     // don't try to preserve
+      } else {
+        val result = toVectorCase.toVector map f
   
-              (start + size, acc ++ chunk, childMap2.updated(source, set2))
+        val intermedMap = map map {
+          case Some((from, to, rebuild, childMap)) => {
+            // get the mapping from *our* indexes to source indexes
+            val inverseMap = {
+              val maps = for ((source, targets) <- childMap)
+                yield (Map[Int, Int]() /: targets) { (acc, t) => acc + (t -> source) }
+    
+              (Map[Int, Int]() /: maps) { _ ++ _ }
+            }
+    
+            val (_, aggregate, childMap2) = result.slice(from, to).zipWithIndex.foldLeft((0, Vector[B](), Map[Int, Set[Int]]())) {
+              case ((start, acc, childMap2), (chunk, i)) => {
+                val size = chunk.size
+                val source = inverseMap(i)
+    
+                val contrib = Set(start until (start + size): _*)
+                val set2 = childMap2.getOrElse(source, contrib) ++ contrib
+    
+                (start + size, acc ++ chunk, childMap2.updated(source, set2))
+              }
             }
+    
+            val length = aggregate.length
+            val delta = length - (to - from)
+            Some((from, to + delta, rebuild, childMap2, aggregate, delta))
           }
-  
-          val length = aggregate.length
-          val delta = length - (to - from)
-          Some((from, to + delta, rebuild, childMap2, aggregate, delta))
+          
+          case None => None
         }
-        
-        case None => None
-      }
-
-      val (_, map2, chunks) = intermedMap.foldLeft((0, Vector[Option[ZContext]](), Vector[Vector[B]]())) {
-        case ((offset, map2, acc), Some((from, to, rebuild, childMap, aggregate, delta))) => {
-          val from2 = from + offset
-          val to2 = to + offset
-          val offset2 = offset + delta
-          (offset2, map2 :+ Some((from2, to2, rebuild, childMap)), acc :+ aggregate)
+  
+        val (_, map2, chunks) = intermedMap.foldLeft((0, Vector[Option[ZContext]](), Vector[Vector[B]]())) {
+          case ((offset, map2, acc), Some((from, to, rebuild, childMap, aggregate, delta))) => {
+            val from2 = from + offset
+            val to2 = to + offset
+            val offset2 = offset + delta
+            (offset2, map2 :+ Some((from2, to2, rebuild, childMap)), acc :+ aggregate)
+          }
+          
+          case ((offset, map2, acc), None) => (offset, map2 :+ None, acc)
         }
-        
-        case ((offset, map2, acc), None) => (offset, map2 :+ None, acc)
+  
+        val builder = cbf(parent.asInstanceOf[Group[A]], map2)
+        chunks foreach (builder ++=)
+        builder.result
       }
-
-      val builder = cbf(parent.asInstanceOf[Group[A]], map2)
-      chunks foreach (builder ++=)
-      builder.result
     }
 
     case _ => super.flatMap(f)(cbf)