diff --git a/js/widgets/widget-stickyHeaders.js b/js/widgets/widget-stickyHeaders.js
index 5cc596a9..67fdf857 100644
--- a/js/widgets/widget-stickyHeaders.js
+++ b/js/widgets/widget-stickyHeaders.js
@@ -213,8 +213,8 @@
 			if ($stickyTable.attr('id')) { $stickyTable[0].id += wo.stickyHeaders_cloneId; }
 			// clear out cloned table, except for sticky header
 			// include caption & filter row (fixes #126 & #249) - don't remove cells to get correct cell indexing
-			$stickyTable.find('thead:gt(0), tr.sticky-false').hide();
-			$stickyTable.find('tbody, tfoot').remove();
+			$stickyTable.find('> thead:gt(0), tr.sticky-false').hide();
+			$stickyTable.find('> tbody, > tfoot').remove();
 			$stickyTable.find('caption').toggle(wo.stickyHeaders_includeCaption);
 			// issue #172 - find td/th in sticky header
 			$stickyCells = $stickyThead.children().children();