diff --git a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/CHANGELOG.md b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/CHANGELOG.md
index 21e1ef9aa757ec..8c95e7e2c3ac98 100644
--- a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,3 +1,6 @@
+## 1.0.1 (unreleased)
+-   Fix: Include freeform content preceding void blocks (#9984)
+
 ## 1.0.0
 
 -   Initial release.
diff --git a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/parser.php b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/parser.php
index 37542aa56b0d5e..9ea5b6ab789190 100644
--- a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/parser.php
+++ b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/parser.php
@@ -197,9 +197,13 @@ function parse( $document ) {
 	 * @return bool
 	 */
     function proceed() {
-        list( $token_type, $block_name, $attrs, $start_offset, $token_length ) = $this->next_token();
+        $next_token = $this->next_token();
+        list( $token_type, $block_name, $attrs, $start_offset, $token_length ) = $next_token;
         $stack_depth = count( $this->stack );
 
+        // we may have some HTML soup before the next block
+        $leading_html_start = $start_offset > $this->offset ? $this->offset : null;
+
         switch ( $token_type ) {
             case 'no-more-tokens':
                 // if not in a block then flush output
@@ -239,6 +243,17 @@ function proceed() {
                  * in the top-level of the document
                  */
                 if ( 0 === $stack_depth ) {
+                    if ( isset( $leading_html_start ) ) {
+                        $this->output[] = array(
+                            'attrs' => array(),
+                            'innerHTML' => substr(
+                                $this->document,
+                                $leading_html_start,
+                                $start_offset - $leading_html_start
+                            ),
+                        );
+                    }
+
                     $this->output[] = new WP_Block_Parser_Block( $block_name, $attrs, array(), '' );
                     $this->offset = $start_offset + $token_length;
                     return true;
@@ -254,9 +269,6 @@ function proceed() {
                 return true;
 
             case 'block-opener':
-                // we may have some HTML soup before the next block
-                $leading_html_start = $start_offset > $this->offset ? $this->offset : null;
-
                 // track all newly-opened blocks on the stack
                 array_push( $this->stack, new WP_Block_Parser_Frame(
                     new WP_Block_Parser_Block( $block_name, $attrs, array(), '' ),
diff --git a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/src/index.js b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/src/index.js
index 4f4fdb38cd19e1..a4cec7aecd8ef0 100644
--- a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/src/index.js
+++ b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/src/index.js
@@ -42,6 +42,9 @@ function proceed() {
 	const [ tokenType, blockName, attrs, startOffset, tokenLength ] = next;
 	const stackDepth = stack.length;
 
+	// we may have some HTML soup before the next block
+	const leadingHtmlStart = ( startOffset > offset ) ? offset : null;
+
 	switch ( tokenType ) {
 		case 'no-more-tokens':
 			// if not in a block then flush output
@@ -74,6 +77,12 @@ function proceed() {
 			// easy case is if we stumbled upon a void block
 			// in the top-level of the document
 			if ( 0 === stackDepth ) {
+				if ( null !== leadingHtmlStart ) {
+					output.push( {
+						attrs: {},
+						innerHTML: document.substr( leadingHtmlStart, startOffset - leadingHtmlStart ),
+					} );
+				}
 				output.push( Block( blockName, attrs, [], '' ) );
 				offset = startOffset + tokenLength;
 				return true;
@@ -89,9 +98,6 @@ function proceed() {
 			return true;
 
 		case 'block-opener':
-			// we may have some HTML soup before the next block
-			const leadingHtmlStart = ( startOffset > offset ) ? offset : null;
-
 			// track all newly-opened blocks on the stack
 			stack.push(
 				Frame(
diff --git a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/test/index.js b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/test/index.js
index 68a46b39c97c45..116a35ce93487b 100644
--- a/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/test/index.js
+++ b/packages/block-serialization-default-parser/test/index.js
@@ -24,4 +24,50 @@ describe( 'block-serialization-spec-parser', () => {
 			},
 		] );
 	} );
+
+	test( 'treats void blocks and empty blocks identically', () => {
+		expect( parse(
+			'<!-- wp:block /-->'
+		) ).toEqual( parse(
+			'<!-- wp:block --><!-- /wp:block -->'
+		) );
+
+		expect( parse(
+			'<!-- wp:my/bus { "is": "fast" } /-->'
+		) ).toEqual( parse(
+			'<!-- wp:my/bus { "is": "fast" } --><!-- /wp:my/bus -->'
+		) );
+	} );
+
+	test( 'should grab HTML soup before block openers', () => {
+		[
+			'<p>Break me</p><!-- wp:block /-->',
+			'<p>Break me</p><!-- wp:block --><!-- /wp:block -->',
+		].forEach( ( input ) => expect( parse( input ) ).toEqual( [
+			expect.objectContaining( { innerHTML: '<p>Break me</p>' } ),
+			expect.objectContaining( { blockName: 'core/block', innerHTML: '' } ),
+		] ) );
+	} );
+
+	test( 'should grab HTML soup before inner block openers', () => {
+		[
+			'<!-- wp:outer --><p>Break me</p><!-- wp:block /--><!-- /wp:outer -->',
+			'<!-- wp:outer --><p>Break me</p><!-- wp:block --><!-- /wp:block --><!-- /wp:outer -->',
+		].forEach( ( input ) => expect( parse( input ) ).toEqual( [
+			expect.objectContaining( {
+				innerBlocks: [ expect.objectContaining( { blockName: 'core/block', innerHTML: '' } ) ],
+				innerHTML: '<p>Break me</p>',
+			} ),
+		] ) );
+	} );
+
+	test( 'should grab HTML soup after blocks', () => {
+		[
+			'<!-- wp:block /--><p>Break me</p>',
+			'<!-- wp:block --><!-- /wp:block --><p>Break me</p>',
+		].forEach( ( input ) => expect( parse( input ) ).toEqual( [
+			expect.objectContaining( { blockName: 'core/block', innerHTML: '' } ),
+			expect.objectContaining( { innerHTML: '<p>Break me</p>' } ),
+		] ) );
+	} );
 } );