diff --git a/addons/web/static/src/core/utils/render.js b/addons/web/static/src/core/utils/render.js
index e15b50643c2..ef50087d4cf 100644
--- a/addons/web/static/src/core/utils/render.js
+++ b/addons/web/static/src/core/utils/render.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 import { blockDom, markup } from "@odoo/owl";
 
 export function renderToElement(template, context = {}) {
-    return render(template, context).firstChild;
+    return render(template, context).firstElementChild;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/addons/web/static/tests/core/utils/render_tests.js b/addons/web/static/tests/core/utils/render_tests.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..a8d745ff557
--- /dev/null
+++ b/addons/web/static/tests/core/utils/render_tests.js
@@ -0,0 +1,26 @@
+/** @odoo-module **/
+
+import { renderToElement, renderToString } from "@web/core/utils/render";
+
+QUnit.module("utils", () => {
+    QUnit.module("render");
+
+    QUnit.test("renderToElement always returns an element", (assert) => {
+        renderToString.app.addTemplate(
+            "test.render.template.1",
+            `<t t-if="False">
+              <div>NotOk</div>
+            </t>
+            <t t-else="">
+              <div>Ok</div>
+            </t>`
+        );
+        const compiledTemplate = renderToElement("test.render.template.1");
+        assert.strictEqual(
+            compiledTemplate.nodeType,
+            Node.ELEMENT_NODE,
+            "compiledTemplate must be an element"
+        );
+        assert.strictEqual(compiledTemplate.outerHTML, "<div>Ok</div>");
+    });
+});