diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/html-edit-formattingbug.html b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/html-edit-formattingbug.html
index 5db864373d..0ac5ed6a07 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/html-edit-formattingbug.html
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/fixtures/html-edit-formattingbug.html
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 <section class="html-edit">
     <textarea class="tiny-mce">dummy</textarea>
 <!--
+TODO: DELETE THIS FILE
     The text passed in is the escaped version of
     &lt;problem>
     &lt;p>&lt;/p>
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/html/edit_spec.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/html/edit_spec.coffee
index 4920002541..9b5cb0c582 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/html/edit_spec.coffee
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/spec/html/edit_spec.coffee
@@ -3,53 +3,24 @@ describe 'HTMLEditingDescriptor', ->
     window.baseUrl = "/static/deadbeef"
   afterEach ->
     delete window.baseUrl
-  describe 'Read data from server, create Editor, and get data back out', ->
-    it 'Does not munge &lt', ->
-#     This is a test for Lighthouse #22,
-#     "html names are automatically converted to the symbols they describe"
-#     A better test would be a Selenium test to avoid duplicating the
-#     mako template structure in html-edit-formattingbug.html.
-#     However, we currently have no working Selenium tests.
-      loadFixtures 'html-edit-formattingbug.html'
-      @descriptor = new HTMLEditingDescriptor($('.html-edit'))
-      visualEditorStub =
-        isDirty: () -> false
-      spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
-        visualEditorStub
-      data = @descriptor.save().data
-      expect(data).toEqual("""&lt;problem>
-                           &lt;p>&lt;/p>
-                           &lt;multiplechoiceresponse>
-                           <pre>&lt;problem>
-                               &lt;p>&lt;/p></pre>
-                           <div><foo>bar</foo></div>""")
-  describe 'Saves HTML', ->
+  describe 'HTML Editor', ->
     beforeEach ->
       loadFixtures 'html-edit.html'
       @descriptor = new HTMLEditingDescriptor($('.html-edit'))
-    it 'Returns data from Advanced Editor if Visual Editor is not dirty', ->
-      visualEditorStub =
-        isDirty: () -> false
-      spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
-        visualEditorStub
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
-      data = @descriptor.save().data
-      expect(data).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text')
-    it 'Returns data from Advanced Editor if Visual Editor is not showing (even if Visual Editor is dirty)', ->
-      visualEditorStub =
-        isDirty: () -> true
-      spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
-        visualEditorStub
-      @descriptor.showingVisualEditor = false
-      data = @descriptor.save().data
-      expect(data).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text')
-    it 'Returns data from Visual Editor if Visual Editor is dirty and showing', ->
+    it 'Returns data from Visual Editor if Visual Editor is dirty', ->
       visualEditorStub =
         isDirty: () -> true
         getContent: () -> 'from visual editor'
       spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
         visualEditorStub
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
+      data = @descriptor.save().data
+      expect(data).toEqual('from visual editor')
+    it 'Returns data from Visual Editor even if Visual Editor is not dirty', ->
+      visualEditorStub =
+        isDirty: () -> false
+        getContent: () -> 'from visual editor'
+      spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
+        visualEditorStub
       data = @descriptor.save().data
       expect(data).toEqual('from visual editor')
     it 'Performs link rewriting for static assets when saving', ->
@@ -58,63 +29,19 @@ describe 'HTMLEditingDescriptor', ->
         getContent: () -> 'from visual editor with /c4x/foo/bar/asset/image.jpg'
       spyOn(@descriptor, 'getVisualEditor').andCallFake () ->
         visualEditorStub
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
       @descriptor.base_asset_url = '/c4x/foo/bar/asset/'
       data = @descriptor.save().data
       expect(data).toEqual('from visual editor with /static/image.jpg')
-  describe 'Can switch to Advanced Editor', ->
-    beforeEach ->
-      loadFixtures 'html-edit.html'
-      @descriptor = new HTMLEditingDescriptor($('.html-edit'))
-    it 'Populates from Visual Editor if Advanced Visual is dirty', ->
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
-      visualEditorStub =
-        isDirty: () -> true
-        getContent: () -> 'from visual editor'
-      @descriptor.showAdvancedEditor(visualEditorStub)
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(false)
-      expect(@descriptor.advanced_editor.getValue()).toEqual('from visual editor')
-    it 'Does not populate from Visual Editor if Visual Editor is not dirty', ->
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
-      visualEditorStub =
-        isDirty: () -> false
-        getContent: () -> 'from visual editor'
-      @descriptor.showAdvancedEditor(visualEditorStub)
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(false)
-      expect(@descriptor.advanced_editor.getValue()).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text')
-  describe 'Can switch to Visual Editor', ->
-    it 'Always populates from the Advanced Editor', ->
-      loadFixtures 'html-edit.html'
-      @descriptor = new HTMLEditingDescriptor($('.html-edit'))
-      @descriptor.showingVisualEditor = false
-
-      visualEditorStub =
-        content: 'not set'
-        startContent: 'not set',
-        focus: () -> true
-        isDirty: () -> false
-        setContent: (x) -> @content = x
-        getContent: -> @content
-
-      @descriptor.showVisualEditor(visualEditorStub)
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
-      expect(visualEditorStub.getContent()).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text')
-      expect(visualEditorStub.startContent).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text')
-    it 'When switching to visual editor links are rewritten to c4x format', ->
-      loadFixtures 'html-edit-with-links.html'
+    it 'When showing visual editor links are rewritten to c4x format', ->
       @descriptor = new HTMLEditingDescriptor($('.html-edit'))
       @descriptor.base_asset_url = '/c4x/foo/bar/asset/'
-      @descriptor.showingVisualEditor = false
 
       visualEditorStub =
-        content: 'not set'
-        startContent: 'not set',
-        focus: () -> true
-        isDirty: () -> false
+        content: 'text /static/image.jpg'
+        startContent: 'text /static/image.jpg'
+        focus: ->
         setContent: (x) -> @content = x
         getContent: -> @content
 
-      @descriptor.showVisualEditor(visualEditorStub)
-      expect(@descriptor.showingVisualEditor).toEqual(true)
-      expect(visualEditorStub.getContent()).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text with link /c4x/foo/bar/asset/dummy.jpg')
-      expect(visualEditorStub.startContent).toEqual('Advanced Editor Text with link /c4x/foo/bar/asset/dummy.jpg')
+      @descriptor.initInstanceCallback(visualEditorStub)
+      expect(visualEditorStub.getContent()).toEqual('text /c4x/foo/bar/asset/image.jpg')
diff --git a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
index 470cffeca3..d081b1ca0d 100644
--- a/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
+++ b/common/lib/xmodule/xmodule/js/src/html/edit.coffee
@@ -58,9 +58,6 @@ class @HTMLEditingDescriptor
       image : "#{baseUrl}/images/ico-tinymce-code.png",
       onclick : () ->
         ed.formatter.toggle('code')
-        # Without this, the dirty flag does not get set unless the user also types in text.
-        # Visual Editor must be marked as dirty or else we won't populate the Advanced Editor from it.
-        ed.isNotDirty = false
     })
 
     @visualEditor = ed
@@ -86,18 +83,14 @@ class @HTMLEditingDescriptor
 
   initInstanceCallback: (visualEditor) =>
     @rewriteLinksFromStatic(visualEditor)
-    @focusVisualEditor(visualEditor)
+    visualEditor.focus()
 
   rewriteLinksFromStatic: (visualEditor) =>
     visualEditor.setContent(rewriteStaticLinks(visualEditor.getContent({no_events: 1}), '/static/', @base_asset_url))
 
-  focusVisualEditor: (visualEditor) =>
-    visualEditor.focus()
-
   getVisualEditor: () ->
     ###
     Returns the instance of TinyMCE.
-    This is different from the textarea that exists in the HTML template (@tiny_mce_textarea.
 
     Pulled out as a helper method for unit test.
     ###
@@ -105,6 +98,5 @@ class @HTMLEditingDescriptor
 
   save: ->
     visualEditor = @getVisualEditor()
-    if visualEditor.isDirty()
-      text = rewriteStaticLinks(visualEditor.getContent({no_events: 1}), @base_asset_url, '/static/')
+    text = rewriteStaticLinks(visualEditor.getContent({no_events: 1}), @base_asset_url, '/static/')
     data: text