Index: TablePlugin/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TablePlugin/Core.pm
===================================================================
--- TablePlugin/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TablePlugin/Core.pm	(revision 7346)
+++ TablePlugin/lib/Foswiki/Plugins/TablePlugin/Core.pm	(working copy)
@@ -1585,11 +1585,21 @@
       . "$singleIndent</tfoot>";
     $text .= $currTablePre . $tfoot if scalar @footerRowList;
 
-    my $tbody =
-        "$singleIndent<tbody>"
-      . join( "", @bodyRowList )
-      . "$singleIndent</tbody>";
-    $text .= $currTablePre . $tbody if scalar @bodyRowList;
+    my $tbody;
+    if (scalar @bodyRowList) {
+      $tbody =
+          "$singleIndent<tbody>"
+        . join( "", @bodyRowList )
+        . "$singleIndent</tbody>";
+    }
+    else {
+      # A HTML table requires a body, which cannot be empty (Item8991).
+      # So we provide one, but prevent it from being displayed.
+      $tbody =
+          "$singleIndent<tbody><tr style=\"display:none;\">"
+        . "<td></td></tr></tbody>\n";
+    }
+    $text .= $currTablePre . $tbody ;
 
     $text .= $currTablePre . CGI::end_table() . "\n";