diff --git a/src/transformers/index.js b/src/transformers/index.js
index 61e38808..b7a840d6 100644
--- a/src/transformers/index.js
+++ b/src/transformers/index.js
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@ exports.addURLParams = (html, config) => addURLParams(html, config, true)
 exports.preventWidows = (html, config) => preventWidows(html, config)
 exports.replaceStrings = (html, config) => replaceStrings(html, config, true)
 exports.safeClassNames = (html, config) => safeClassNames(html, config, true)
-exports.removeUnusedCSS = (html, config) => removeUnusedCSS(html, config, true)
+exports.removeUnusedCSS = (html, config) => removeUnusedCSS(html, config)
 exports.removeAttributes = (html, config) => removeAttributes(html, config, true)
 exports.attributeToStyle = (html, config) => attributeToStyle(html, config, true)
 exports.removeInlineSizes = (html, config) => removeInlineSizes(html, config, true)
diff --git a/src/transformers/removeUnusedCss.js b/src/transformers/removeUnusedCss.js
index 531425a6..8d58f80b 100644
--- a/src/transformers/removeUnusedCss.js
+++ b/src/transformers/removeUnusedCss.js
@@ -1,13 +1,11 @@
 const {comb} = require('email-comb')
-const {get, isEmpty} = require('lodash')
+const {get, merge} = require('lodash')
 
-module.exports = async (html, config = {}, direct = false) => {
+module.exports = async (html, config = {}) => {
   if (get(config, 'removeUnusedCSS') === false) {
     return html
   }
 
-  const options = direct ? config : get(config, 'removeUnusedCSS', {})
-
   const safelist = [
     '*body*', // Gmail
     '.gmail*', // Gmail
@@ -26,15 +24,17 @@ module.exports = async (html, config = {}, direct = false) => {
     '.lang*' // Fenced code blocks
   ]
 
-  if (typeof options === 'boolean' && options) {
-    return comb(html, {whitelist: safelist}).result
+  const defaultOptions = {
+    backend: [
+      {heads: '{{', tails: '}}'},
+      {heads: '{%', tails: '%}'}
+    ],
+    whitelist: [...get(config, 'whitelist', []), ...safelist]
   }
 
-  if (!isEmpty(options)) {
-    options.whitelist = [...get(options, 'whitelist', []), ...safelist]
-
-    return comb(html, options).result
-  }
+  const options = typeof config === 'boolean' && config ?
+    defaultOptions :
+    merge(defaultOptions, get(config, 'removeUnusedCSS', config))
 
-  return html
+  return comb(html, options).result
 }