diff --git a/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js b/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
index 6b131a5ad2..8489aeb1bf 100644
--- a/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
+++ b/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
@@ -12,6 +12,13 @@ function isJSXText(node) {
   return !!node && (node.type === 'JSXText' || node.type === 'Literal');
 }
 
+/**
+ * @param {string} text
+ */
+function isOnlyWhitespace(text) {
+  return text.trim().length === 0;
+}
+
 /**
  * Test if node is like `<Fragment key={_}>_</Fragment>`
  * @param {JSXElement} node
@@ -55,7 +62,7 @@ module.exports = {
      */
     function isPaddingSpaces(node) {
       return isJSXText(node) &&
-        /^\s*$/.test(node.raw) &&
+        isOnlyWhitespace(node.raw) &&
         node.raw.includes('\n');
     }
 
@@ -86,7 +93,7 @@ module.exports = {
     }
 
     /**
-     * Avoid fixing case like:
+     * Avoid fixing cases that involve tricky whitespaces changes like:
      * ```jsx
      * <div>
      *   pine<>
@@ -94,6 +101,7 @@ module.exports = {
      *   </>
      * </div>
      * ```
+     * Give up fixing if one neighboring node is JSXText and is not only whitespaces
      * @param {JSXElement|JSXFragment} node
      * @returns {boolean}
      */
@@ -106,10 +114,14 @@ module.exports = {
       const previousChild = node.parent.children[i - 1];
       const nextChild = node.parent.children[i + 1];
 
-      return (
-        (!isJSXText(previousChild) || /\s$/.test(previousChild.value)) &&
-        (!isJSXText(nextChild) || /^\s/.test(nextChild.value))
-      );
+      if (
+        (isJSXText(previousChild) && !isOnlyWhitespace(previousChild.value)) ||
+        (isJSXText(nextChild) && !isOnlyWhitespace(nextChild.value))
+      ) {
+        return false;
+      }
+
+      return true;
     }
 
     function fix(node, fixer) {
diff --git a/tests/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js b/tests/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
index 1dd5c84e8d..2c572d9aac 100644
--- a/tests/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
+++ b/tests/lib/rules/jsx-no-useless-fragment.js
@@ -164,7 +164,7 @@ ruleTester.run('jsx-no-uselses-fragment', rule, {
     },
     {
       code: '<div>a <>{""}{""}</> a</div>',
-      output: '<div>a {""}{""} a</div>',
+      output: null,
       errors: [{messageId: 'ChildOfHtmlElement'}],
       parser: parsers.BABEL_ESLINT
     }