diff --git a/src/api/traversing.spec.ts b/src/api/traversing.spec.ts
index 610bc1fc92..ff86874cb3 100644
--- a/src/api/traversing.spec.ts
+++ b/src/api/traversing.spec.ts
@@ -798,6 +798,12 @@ describe('$(...)', () => {
       const result = $('.saladbar', food).closest('ul');
       expect(result).toHaveLength(0);
     });
+
+    it('(selector) : should find closest element for text nodes', () => {
+      const textNode = $('.apple', food).contents().first();
+      const result = textNode.closest('#food') as Cheerio<Element>;
+      expect(result[0].attribs).toHaveProperty('id', 'food');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('.each', () => {
diff --git a/src/api/traversing.ts b/src/api/traversing.ts
index 264e825fb3..4afa7f5279 100644
--- a/src/api/traversing.ts
+++ b/src/api/traversing.ts
@@ -327,6 +327,9 @@ export function closest<T extends AnyNode>(
       : getFilterFn(selector);
 
   domEach(this, (elem: AnyNode | null) => {
+    if (elem && !isDocument(elem) && !isTag(elem)) {
+      elem = elem.parent;
+    }
     while (elem && isTag(elem)) {
       if (selectFn(elem, 0)) {
         // Do not add duplicate elements to the set