diff --git a/xml2rfc/writers/text.py b/xml2rfc/writers/text.py
index 378ca9ac..4d2d1667 100644
--- a/xml2rfc/writers/text.py
+++ b/xml2rfc/writers/text.py
@@ -2150,11 +2150,10 @@ def render_li(self, e, width, **kwargs):
         tt, __ = self.text_or_block_renderer(e, width, **kwargs)
         if isinstance(tt, list):
             lines = stripl(tt)
-            if (
-                lines
-                and lines[0].elem.tag not in ["artwork", "figure", "sourcecode"]
-                and not (p.tag == "ul" and lines[0].elem.tag == "li")
-            ):
+            children = e.getchildren()
+            if children and children[0].tag in ["artwork", "figure", "sourcecode", "ol", "ul"]:
+                lines.insert(0, Line(text.rstrip(stripspace), e))
+            else:
                 lines[0].text = text + lines[0].text.lstrip(stripspace)
         else:
             text += tt.lstrip(stripspace)