diff --git a/markdownify/__init__.py b/markdownify/__init__.py
index e15ecd4..bf765ec 100644
--- a/markdownify/__init__.py
+++ b/markdownify/__init__.py
@@ -152,13 +152,12 @@ class MarkdownConverter(object):
     def process_text(self, el):
         text = six.text_type(el) or ''
 
-        # dont remove any whitespace when handling pre or code in pre
-        if not (el.parent.name == 'pre'
-                or (el.parent.name == 'code'
-                    and el.parent.parent.name == 'pre')):
+        # normalize whitespace if we're not inside a preformatted element
+        if not el.find_parent('pre'):
             text = whitespace_re.sub(' ', text)
 
-        if el.parent.name != 'code' and el.parent.name != 'pre':
+        # escape special characters if we're not inside a preformatted or code element
+        if not el.find_parent(['pre', 'code', 'kbd', 'samp']):
             text = self.escape(text)
 
         # remove trailing whitespaces if any of the following condition is true:
diff --git a/tests/test_conversions.py b/tests/test_conversions.py
index da78649..1ecaf3c 100644
--- a/tests/test_conversions.py
+++ b/tests/test_conversions.py
@@ -70,7 +70,12 @@ def test_br():
 
 def test_code():
     inline_tests('code', '`')
-    assert md('<code>this_should_not_escape</code>') == '`this_should_not_escape`'
+    assert md('<code>*this_should_not_escape*</code>') == '`*this_should_not_escape*`'
+    assert md('<kbd>*this_should_not_escape*</kbd>') == '`*this_should_not_escape*`'
+    assert md('<samp>*this_should_not_escape*</samp>') == '`*this_should_not_escape*`'
+    assert md('<code><span>*this_should_not_escape*</span></code>') == '`*this_should_not_escape*`'
+    assert md('<code>this  should\t\tnormalize</code>') == '`this should normalize`'
+    assert md('<code><span>this  should\t\tnormalize</span></code>') == '`this should normalize`'
 
 
 def test_del():
@@ -187,7 +192,10 @@ def test_p():
 def test_pre():
     assert md('<pre>test\n    foo\nbar</pre>') == '\n```\ntest\n    foo\nbar\n```\n'
     assert md('<pre><code>test\n    foo\nbar</code></pre>') == '\n```\ntest\n    foo\nbar\n```\n'
-    assert md('<pre>this_should_not_escape</pre>') == '\n```\nthis_should_not_escape\n```\n'
+    assert md('<pre>*this_should_not_escape*</pre>') == '\n```\n*this_should_not_escape*\n```\n'
+    assert md('<pre><span>*this_should_not_escape*</span></pre>') == '\n```\n*this_should_not_escape*\n```\n'
+    assert md('<pre>\t\tthis  should\t\tnot  normalize</pre>') == '\n```\n\t\tthis  should\t\tnot  normalize\n```\n'
+    assert md('<pre><span>\t\tthis  should\t\tnot  normalize</span></pre>') == '\n```\n\t\tthis  should\t\tnot  normalize\n```\n'
 
 
 def test_s():