diff --git a/src/etc/htmldocck.py b/src/etc/htmldocck.py
index 8647db5a45dc8..db2f378300e92 100644
--- a/src/etc/htmldocck.py
+++ b/src/etc/htmldocck.py
@@ -110,72 +110,9 @@
 import re
 import shlex
 from collections import namedtuple
-try:
-    from html.parser import HTMLParser
-except ImportError:
-    from HTMLParser import HTMLParser
-try:
-    from xml.etree import cElementTree as ET
-except ImportError:
-    from xml.etree import ElementTree as ET
-
-try:
-    from html.entities import name2codepoint
-except ImportError:
-    from htmlentitydefs import name2codepoint
-
-# "void elements" (no closing tag) from the HTML Standard section 12.1.2
-VOID_ELEMENTS = {'area', 'base', 'br', 'col', 'embed', 'hr', 'img', 'input', 'keygen',
-                     'link', 'menuitem', 'meta', 'param', 'source', 'track', 'wbr'}
-
-# Python 2 -> 3 compatibility
-try:
-    unichr
-except NameError:
-    unichr = chr
-
+from parsel import Selector
 
 channel = os.environ["DOC_RUST_LANG_ORG_CHANNEL"]
-
-class CustomHTMLParser(HTMLParser):
-    """simplified HTML parser.
-
-    this is possible because we are dealing with very regular HTML from
-    rustdoc; we only have to deal with i) void elements and ii) empty
-    attributes."""
-    def __init__(self, target=None):
-        HTMLParser.__init__(self)
-        self.__builder = target or ET.TreeBuilder()
-
-    def handle_starttag(self, tag, attrs):
-        attrs = {k: v or '' for k, v in attrs}
-        self.__builder.start(tag, attrs)
-        if tag in VOID_ELEMENTS:
-            self.__builder.end(tag)
-
-    def handle_endtag(self, tag):
-        self.__builder.end(tag)
-
-    def handle_startendtag(self, tag, attrs):
-        attrs = {k: v or '' for k, v in attrs}
-        self.__builder.start(tag, attrs)
-        self.__builder.end(tag)
-
-    def handle_data(self, data):
-        self.__builder.data(data)
-
-    def handle_entityref(self, name):
-        self.__builder.data(unichr(name2codepoint[name]))
-
-    def handle_charref(self, name):
-        code = int(name[1:], 16) if name.startswith(('x', 'X')) else int(name, 10)
-        self.__builder.data(unichr(code))
-
-    def close(self):
-        HTMLParser.close(self)
-        return self.__builder.close()
-
-
 Command = namedtuple('Command', 'negated cmd args lineno context')
 
 
@@ -256,29 +193,11 @@ def get_commands(template):
             yield Command(negated=negated, cmd=cmd, args=args, lineno=lineno+1, context=line)
 
 
-def _flatten(node, acc):
-    if node.text:
-        acc.append(node.text)
-    for e in node:
-        _flatten(e, acc)
-        if e.tail:
-            acc.append(e.tail)
-
-
-def flatten(node):
-    acc = []
-    _flatten(node, acc)
-    return ''.join(acc)
-
-
 def normalize_xpath(path):
     path = path.replace("{{channel}}", channel)
-    if path.startswith('//'):
-        return '.' + path  # avoid warnings
-    elif path.startswith('.//'):
-        return path
-    else:
+    if not path.startswith('//'):
         raise InvalidCheck('Non-absolute XPath is not supported due to implementation issues')
+    return path
 
 
 class CachedFiles(object):
@@ -323,7 +242,7 @@ def get_tree(self, path):
 
         with io.open(abspath, encoding='utf-8') as f:
             try:
-                tree = ET.fromstringlist(f.readlines(), CustomHTMLParser())
+                tree = Selector(text=f.read())
             except Exception as e:
                 raise RuntimeError('Cannot parse an HTML file {!r}: {}'.format(path, e))
             self.trees[path] = tree
@@ -351,7 +270,7 @@ def check_string(data, pat, regexp):
 def check_tree_attr(tree, path, attr, pat, regexp):
     path = normalize_xpath(path)
     ret = False
-    for e in tree.findall(path):
+    for e in tree.xpath(path):
         if attr in e.attrib:
             value = e.attrib[attr]
         else:
@@ -363,19 +282,19 @@ def check_tree_attr(tree, path, attr, pat, regexp):
     return ret
 
 
+def flatten(elem):
+    return ''.join(elem.css('::text').getall())
+
+
 def check_tree_text(tree, path, pat, regexp):
     path = normalize_xpath(path)
     ret = False
     try:
-        for e in tree.findall(path):
-            try:
-                value = flatten(e)
-            except KeyError:
-                continue
-            else:
-                ret = check_string(value, pat, regexp)
-                if ret:
-                    break
+        for e in tree.xpath(path):
+            value = flatten(e)
+            ret = check_string(value, pat, regexp)
+            if ret:
+                break
     except Exception:
         print('Failed to get path "{}"'.format(path))
         raise
@@ -384,7 +303,7 @@ def check_tree_text(tree, path, pat, regexp):
 
 def get_tree_count(tree, path):
     path = normalize_xpath(path)
-    return len(tree.findall(path))
+    return len(tree.xpath(path))
 
 
 def stderr(*args):
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/fn-type.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/fn-type.rs
index 3959aeb6cfb7f..11811ffe307ee 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/fn-type.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/fn-type.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ pub struct Foo<'a, T> {
     pub hrtb_lifetime: for<'b, 'c> fn(one: &'b i32, two: &'c &'b i32) -> (&'b i32, &'c i32),
 }
 
-// @has 'foo/struct.Foo.html' '//span[@id="structfield.generic"]' "generic: fn(val: &T) -> T"
-// @has 'foo/struct.Foo.html' '//span[@id="structfield.lifetime"]' "lifetime: fn(val: &'a i32) -> i32"
-// @has 'foo/struct.Foo.html' '//span[@id="structfield.hrtb_lifetime"]' "hrtb_lifetime: for<'b, 'c> fn(one: &'b i32, two: &'c &'b i32) -> (&'b i32, &'c i32)"
+// @has 'foo/struct.Foo.html'
+// @has - '//span[@id="structfield.generic"]' "generic: fn(val: &T) -> T"
+// @has - '//span[@id="structfield.lifetime"]' "lifetime: fn(val: &'a i32) -> i32"
+// @has - '//span[@id="structfield.hrtb_lifetime"]' "hrtb_lifetime: for<'b, 'c> fn(one: &'b i32, two: &'c &'b i32) -> (&'b i32, &'c i32)"
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/inline_cross/renamed-via-module.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/inline_cross/renamed-via-module.rs
index cdedbf0707985..d053d659c5228 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/inline_cross/renamed-via-module.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/inline_cross/renamed-via-module.rs
@@ -7,16 +7,16 @@
 extern crate foo;
 
 // @has foo/iter/index.html
-// @has - '//a/[@href="struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html"]' "DeprecatedStepBy"
-// @has - '//a/[@href="struct.StepBy.html"]' "StepBy"
+// @has - '//a[@href="struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html"]' "DeprecatedStepBy"
+// @has - '//a[@href="struct.StepBy.html"]' "StepBy"
 // @has foo/iter/struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html
 // @has - '//h1' "Struct foo::iter::DeprecatedStepBy"
 // @has foo/iter/struct.StepBy.html
 // @has - '//h1' "Struct foo::iter::StepBy"
 
 // @has bar/iter/index.html
-// @has - '//a/[@href="struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html"]' "DeprecatedStepBy"
-// @has - '//a/[@href="struct.StepBy.html"]' "StepBy"
+// @has - '//a[@href="struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html"]' "DeprecatedStepBy"
+// @has - '//a[@href="struct.StepBy.html"]' "StepBy"
 // @has bar/iter/struct.DeprecatedStepBy.html
 // @has - '//h1' "Struct bar::iter::DeprecatedStepBy"
 // @has bar/iter/struct.StepBy.html
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/intra-doc/private.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/intra-doc/private.rs
index 2756a7998e8ea..0b5882e40fcd0 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/intra-doc/private.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/intra-doc/private.rs
@@ -4,9 +4,9 @@
 // make sure to update `rustdoc-ui/intra-doc/private.rs` if you update this file
 
 /// docs [DontDocMe] [DontDocMe::f] [DontDocMe::x]
-// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//*a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html"]' 'DontDocMe'
-// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//*a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html#method.f"]' 'DontDocMe::f'
-// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//*a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html#structfield.x"]' 'DontDocMe::x'
+// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html"]' 'DontDocMe'
+// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html#method.f"]' 'DontDocMe::f'
+// @has private/struct.DocMe.html '//a[@href="struct.DontDocMe.html#structfield.x"]' 'DontDocMe::x'
 pub struct DocMe;
 struct DontDocMe {
     x: usize,
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/primitive/no_std.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/primitive/no_std.rs
index f0f70cb6c1881..adcc9556f819d 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/primitive/no_std.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/primitive/no_std.rs
@@ -2,8 +2,8 @@
 #![deny(warnings)]
 #![deny(rustdoc::broken_intra_doc_links)]
 
-// @has no_std/fn.foo.html '//a/[@href="{{channel}}/core/primitive.u8.html"]' 'u8'
-// @has no_std/fn.foo.html '//a/[@href="{{channel}}/core/primitive.u8.html"]' 'primitive link'
+// @has no_std/fn.foo.html '//a[@href="{{channel}}/core/primitive.u8.html"]' 'u8'
+// @has no_std/fn.foo.html '//a[@href="{{channel}}/core/primitive.u8.html"]' 'primitive link'
 /// Link to [primitive link][u8]
 pub fn foo() -> u8 {}
 
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/proc-macro.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/proc-macro.rs
index f6d1f2cf91b5f..c8507a625db36 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/proc-macro.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/proc-macro.rs
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #![crate_name="some_macros"]
 
 // @has some_macros/index.html
-// @has - '//a/[@href="attr.some_proc_attr.html"]' 'some_proc_attr'
+// @has - '//a[@href="attr.some_proc_attr.html"]' 'some_proc_attr'
 
 //! include a link to [some_proc_macro] to make sure it works.
 
diff --git a/src/test/rustdoc/raw-ident-eliminate-r-hashtag.rs b/src/test/rustdoc/raw-ident-eliminate-r-hashtag.rs
index ad19036126760..b8133cbf2168d 100644
--- a/src/test/rustdoc/raw-ident-eliminate-r-hashtag.rs
+++ b/src/test/rustdoc/raw-ident-eliminate-r-hashtag.rs
@@ -8,13 +8,13 @@ pub mod internal {
     ///
     /// [name]: mod
     /// [other name]: crate::internal::mod
-    // @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/internal/struct.B.html' '//*a[@href="struct.mod.html"]' 'name'
-    // @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/internal/struct.B.html' '//*a[@href="struct.mod.html"]' 'other name'
+    // @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/internal/struct.B.html' '//a[@href="struct.mod.html"]' 'name'
+    // @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/internal/struct.B.html' '//a[@href="struct.mod.html"]' 'other name'
     pub struct B;
 }
 
 /// See [name].
 ///
 /// [name]: internal::mod
-// @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/struct.A.html' '//*a[@href="internal/struct.mod.html"]' 'name'
+// @has 'raw_ident_eliminate_r_hashtag/struct.A.html' '//a[@href="internal/struct.mod.html"]' 'name'
 pub struct A;