diff --git a/src/Folder/Foldable.php b/src/Folder/Foldable.php
index 2b2dfa8..4c2f072 100644
--- a/src/Folder/Foldable.php
+++ b/src/Folder/Foldable.php
@@ -102,19 +102,21 @@ protected function setupSlots(): void
 
         foreach ($this->node->children as $child) {
             if ($child instanceof SlotNode) {
-                if (! $this->hasActualContent($child->children)) {
-                    continue;
-                }
+                $children = [];
 
-                $placeholder = 'BLAZE_PLACEHOLDER_' . $this->placeholderIndex++ . '_';
+                if ($this->hasActualContent($child->children)) {
+                    $placeholder = 'BLAZE_PLACEHOLDER_' . $this->placeholderIndex++ . '_';
+    
+                    $this->slotByPlaceholder[$placeholder] = $child;
 
-                $this->slotByPlaceholder[$placeholder] = $child;
+                    $children = [new TextNode($placeholder)];
+                }
 
                 $slots[$child->name] = new SlotNode(
                     name: $child->name,
                     attributeString: $child->attributeString,
                     slotStyle: $child->slotStyle,
-                    children: [new TextNode($placeholder)],
+                    children: $children,
                     prefix: $child->prefix,
                     closeHasName: $child->closeHasName,
                     attributes: $child->attributes,
diff --git a/tests/Folder/FoldableTest.php b/tests/Folder/FoldableTest.php
index 6ff77c7..fb0549a 100644
--- a/tests/Folder/FoldableTest.php
+++ b/tests/Folder/FoldableTest.php
@@ -420,13 +420,13 @@
     expect($output)->toBe('<div></div>');
 });
 
-test('does not synthesize a placeholder for a whitespace-only explicit slot', function () {
-    $node = app(Parser::class)->parse('<x-card><x-slot:footer> </x-slot></x-card>')[0];
+test('does not add a placeholder for a whitespace-only slot', function () {
+    $node = app(Parser::class)->parse('<x-card><x-slot:footer> </x-slot:footer></x-card>')[0];
 
     mock(BladeRenderer::class)
         ->expects('render')
         ->once()->withArgs(function (ComponentNode $node) {
-            expect($node->render())->toBe('<x-card></x-card>');
+            expect($node->render())->toBe('<x-card><x-slot:footer></x-slot:footer></x-card>');
 
             return true;
         })