diff --git a/src/htmlLanguageService.ts b/src/htmlLanguageService.ts
index 8ce5bc7..e0d13ed 100644
--- a/src/htmlLanguageService.ts
+++ b/src/htmlLanguageService.ts
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ export * from './htmlLanguageTypes.js';
 export interface LanguageService {
 	setDataProviders(useDefaultDataProvider: boolean, customDataProviders: IHTMLDataProvider[]): void;
 	createScanner(input: string, initialOffset?: number): Scanner;
-	parseHTMLDocument(document: TextDocument): HTMLDocument;
+	parseHTMLDocument(document: TextDocument, options?: { createNodesForOrphanEndTags?: boolean }): HTMLDocument;
 	findDocumentHighlights(document: TextDocument, position: Position, htmlDocument: HTMLDocument): DocumentHighlight[];
 	doComplete(document: TextDocument, position: Position, htmlDocument: HTMLDocument, options?: CompletionConfiguration): CompletionList;
 	doComplete2(document: TextDocument, position: Position, htmlDocument: HTMLDocument, documentContext: DocumentContext, options?: CompletionConfiguration): Promise<CompletionList>;
diff --git a/src/parser/htmlParser.ts b/src/parser/htmlParser.ts
index 652e7ac..ba4af31 100644
--- a/src/parser/htmlParser.ts
+++ b/src/parser/htmlParser.ts
@@ -68,11 +68,11 @@ export class HTMLParser {
 
   }
 
-  public parseDocument(document: TextDocument): HTMLDocument {
-    return this.parse(document.getText(), this.dataManager.getVoidElements(document.languageId));
+  public parseDocument(document: TextDocument, options?: { createNodesForOrphanEndTags?: boolean }): HTMLDocument {
+    return this.parse(document.getText(), this.dataManager.getVoidElements(document.languageId), options);
   }
 
-  public parse(text: string, voidElements: string[]): HTMLDocument {
+  public parse(text: string, voidElements: string[], options?: { createNodesForOrphanEndTags?: boolean }): HTMLDocument {
     const scanner = createScanner(text, undefined, undefined, true);
 
     const htmlDocument = new Node(0, text.length, [], void 0);
@@ -137,6 +137,13 @@ export class HTMLParser {
             curr.endTagStart = endTagStart;
             curr.end = scanner.getTokenEnd();
             curr = curr.parent!;
+          } else if (options?.createNodesForOrphanEndTags === true) {
+            // closing tag without a matching opening tag (opt-in behavior)
+            const orphan = new Node(endTagStart, scanner.getTokenEnd(), [], curr);
+            orphan.tag = endTagName;
+            orphan.closed = true;
+            orphan.endTagStart = endTagStart;
+            curr.children.push(orphan);
           }
           break;
         case TokenType.AttributeName: {
diff --git a/src/test/parser.test.ts b/src/test/parser.test.ts
index f4fbf0e..64085be 100644
--- a/src/test/parser.test.ts
+++ b/src/test/parser.test.ts
@@ -9,9 +9,9 @@ import { HTMLParser, Node } from '../parser/htmlParser.js';
 import { HTMLDataManager } from '../languageFacts/dataManager.js';
 
 suite('HTML Parser', () => {
-	function parse(text: string) {
+	function parse(text: string, options?: { createNodesForOrphanEndTags?: boolean }) {
 		const htmlDataManager = new HTMLDataManager({});
-		return new HTMLParser(htmlDataManager).parse(text, htmlDataManager.getVoidElements('html'));
+		return new HTMLParser(htmlDataManager).parse(text, htmlDataManager.getVoidElements('html'), options);
 	}
 	function toJSON(node: Node): any {
 		return { tag: node.tag, start: node.start, end: node.end, endTagStart: node.endTagStart, closed: node.closed, children: node.children.map(toJSON) };
@@ -21,8 +21,8 @@ suite('HTML Parser', () => {
 		return { tag: node.tag, attributes: node.attributes, children: node.children.map(toJSONWithAttributes) };
 	}
 
-	function assertDocument(input: string, expected: any) {
-		const document = parse(input);
+	function assertDocument(input: string, expected: any, options?: { createNodesForOrphanEndTags?: boolean }) {
+		const document = parse(input, options);
 		assert.deepEqual(document.roots.map(toJSON), expected);
 	}
 
@@ -66,6 +66,28 @@ suite('HTML Parser', () => {
 		assertDocument('<h1><div><span></h1>', [{ tag: 'h1', start: 0, end: 20, endTagStart: 15, closed: true, children: [{ tag: 'div', start: 4, end: 15, endTagStart: void 0, closed: false, children: [{ tag: 'span', start: 9, end: 15, endTagStart: void 0, closed: false, children: [] }] }] }]);
 	});
 
+	test('Closing tag without opening tag (issue #149) - opt-in', () => {
+		const withOrphans = { createNodesForOrphanEndTags: true };
+		// standalone closing tag
+		assertDocument('</div>', [{ tag: 'div', start: 0, end: 6, endTagStart: 0, closed: true, children: [] }], withOrphans);
+		// closing tag for a different element than the one opened
+		assertDocument('<div></span></div>', [{ tag: 'div', start: 0, end: 18, endTagStart: 12, closed: true, children: [{ tag: 'span', start: 5, end: 12, endTagStart: 5, closed: true, children: [] }] }], withOrphans);
+		// multiple orphan closing tags
+		assertDocument('</a></b>', [
+			{ tag: 'a', start: 0, end: 4, endTagStart: 0, closed: true, children: [] },
+			{ tag: 'b', start: 4, end: 8, endTagStart: 4, closed: true, children: [] }
+		], withOrphans);
+	});
+
+	test('Closing tag without opening tag (issue #149) - default discards orphans', () => {
+		// default (option absent) keeps original behavior: orphan closing tags are discarded
+		assertDocument('</div>', []);
+		assertDocument('</a></b>', []);
+		assertDocument('<div></span></div>', [{ tag: 'div', start: 0, end: 18, endTagStart: 12, closed: true, children: [] }]);
+		// explicitly false behaves the same as absent
+		assertDocument('</div>', [], { createNodesForOrphanEndTags: false });
+	});
+
 	test('MissingBrackets', () => {
 		assertDocument('<div><div</div>', [{ tag: 'div', start: 0, end: 15, endTagStart: 9, closed: true, children: [{ tag: 'div', start: 5, end: 9, endTagStart: void 0, closed: false, children: [] }] }]);
 		assertDocument('<div><div\n</div>', [{ tag: 'div', start: 0, end: 16, endTagStart: 10, closed: true, children: [{ tag: 'div', start: 5, end: 10, endTagStart: void 0, closed: false, children: [] }] }]);