diff --git a/__tests__/purgeUnusedStyles.test.js b/__tests__/purgeUnusedStyles.test.js
index 5b532217fb6c..3fbc1453460f 100644
--- a/__tests__/purgeUnusedStyles.test.js
+++ b/__tests__/purgeUnusedStyles.test.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ import fs from 'fs'
 import path from 'path'
 import postcss from 'postcss'
 import tailwind from '../src/index'
+import { tailwindExtractor } from '../src/lib/purgeUnusedStyles'
 import defaultConfig from '../stubs/defaultConfig.stub.js'
 
 function suppressConsoleLogs(cb, type = 'warn') {
@@ -658,6 +659,60 @@ test('element selectors are preserved by default', () => {
   )
 })
 
+test('element selectors are preserved even when defaultExtractor is overridden', () => {
+  return inProduction(
+    suppressConsoleLogs(() => {
+      const inputPath = path.resolve(`${__dirname}/fixtures/tailwind-input.css`)
+      const input = fs.readFileSync(inputPath, 'utf8')
+
+      return postcss([
+        tailwind({
+          ...config,
+          purge: {
+            content: [path.resolve(`${__dirname}/fixtures/**/*.html`)],
+            mode: 'all',
+            preserveHtmlElements: true,
+            options: {
+              defaultExtractor: tailwindExtractor,
+            },
+          },
+        }),
+      ])
+        .process(input, { from: inputPath })
+        .then((result) => {
+          const rules = extractRules(result.root)
+          ;[
+            'a',
+            'blockquote',
+            'body',
+            'code',
+            'fieldset',
+            'figure',
+            'h1',
+            'h2',
+            'h3',
+            'h4',
+            'h5',
+            'h6',
+            'hr',
+            'html',
+            'img',
+            'kbd',
+            'ol',
+            'p',
+            'pre',
+            'strong',
+            'sup',
+            'table',
+            'ul',
+          ].forEach((e) => expect(rules).toContain(e))
+
+          assertPurged(result)
+        })
+    })
+  )
+})
+
 test('preserving element selectors can be disabled', () => {
   return inProduction(
     suppressConsoleLogs(() => {
diff --git a/src/lib/purgeUnusedStyles.js b/src/lib/purgeUnusedStyles.js
index 92d075c46682..e75da457d564 100644
--- a/src/lib/purgeUnusedStyles.js
+++ b/src/lib/purgeUnusedStyles.js
@@ -22,6 +22,17 @@ function removeTailwindMarkers(css) {
   })
 }
 
+export function tailwindExtractor(content) {
+  // Capture as liberally as possible, including things like `h-(screen-1.5)`
+  const broadMatches = content.match(/[^<>"'`\s]*[^<>"'`\s:]/g) || []
+  const broadMatchesWithoutTrailingSlash = broadMatches.map((match) => _.trimEnd(match, '\\'))
+
+  // Capture classes within other delimiters like .block(class="w-1/2") in Pug
+  const innerMatches = content.match(/[^<>"'`\s.(){}[\]#=%]*[^<>"'`\s.(){}[\]#=%:]/g) || []
+
+  return broadMatches.concat(broadMatchesWithoutTrailingSlash).concat(innerMatches)
+}
+
 export default function purgeUnusedUtilities(config, configChanged) {
   const purgeEnabled = _.get(
     config,
@@ -46,6 +57,8 @@ export default function purgeUnusedUtilities(config, configChanged) {
     return removeTailwindMarkers
   }
 
+  const { defaultExtractor, ...purgeOptions } = config.purge.options || {}
+
   return postcss([
     function (css) {
       const mode = _.get(config, 'purge.mode', 'layers')
@@ -93,22 +106,16 @@ export default function purgeUnusedUtilities(config, configChanged) {
     purgecss({
       content: Array.isArray(config.purge) ? config.purge : config.purge.content,
       defaultExtractor: (content) => {
-        // Capture as liberally as possible, including things like `h-(screen-1.5)`
-        const broadMatches = content.match(/[^<>"'`\s]*[^<>"'`\s:]/g) || []
-        const broadMatchesWithoutTrailingSlash = broadMatches.map((match) => _.trimEnd(match, '\\'))
-
-        // Capture classes within other delimiters like .block(class="w-1/2") in Pug
-        const innerMatches = content.match(/[^<>"'`\s.(){}[\]#=%]*[^<>"'`\s.(){}[\]#=%:]/g) || []
-
-        const matches = broadMatches.concat(broadMatchesWithoutTrailingSlash).concat(innerMatches)
+        const extractor = defaultExtractor || tailwindExtractor
+        const preserved = [...extractor(content)]
 
         if (_.get(config, 'purge.preserveHtmlElements', true)) {
-          return [...htmlTags].concat(matches)
-        } else {
-          return matches
+          preserved.push(...htmlTags)
         }
+
+        return preserved
       },
-      ...config.purge.options,
+      ...purgeOptions,
     }),
   ])
 }