diff --git a/src/html.rs b/src/html.rs
index 5b5aaf9..cbefb10 100644
--- a/src/html.rs
+++ b/src/html.rs
@@ -267,12 +267,12 @@ impl<'s> Writer<'s> {
                         write!(out, r#" style="text-align: {};">"#, a)?;
                     }
                     Container::CodeBlock { language } => {
-                        if let Some(l) = language {
-                            out.write_str(r#"><code class="language-"#)?;
-                            write_attr(l, &mut out)?;
-                            out.write_str(r#"">"#)?;
-                        } else {
+                        if language.is_empty() {
                             out.write_str("><code>")?;
+                        } else {
+                            out.write_str(r#"><code class="language-"#)?;
+                            write_attr(language, &mut out)?;
+                            out.write_str(r#"">"#)?;
                         }
                     }
                     Container::Image(..) => {
diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index f3795c6..81142c3 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -290,7 +290,7 @@ pub enum Container<'s> {
     /// A block with raw markup for a specific output format.
     RawBlock { format: &'s str },
     /// A block with code in a specific language.
-    CodeBlock { language: Option<&'s str> },
+    CodeBlock { language: &'s str },
     /// An inline divider element.
     Span,
     /// An inline link, the first field is either a destination URL or an unresolved tag.
@@ -902,9 +902,7 @@ impl<'s> Parser<'s> {
                                     if let Some(format) = content.strip_prefix('=') {
                                         Container::RawBlock { format }
                                     } else {
-                                        Container::CodeBlock {
-                                            language: (!content.is_empty()).then(|| content),
-                                        }
+                                        Container::CodeBlock { language: content }
                                     }
                                 }
                                 block::Leaf::TableCell(alignment) => Container::TableCell {