diff --git a/lib/core/utils/dq-element.js b/lib/core/utils/dq-element.js
index 373675e3..74b5965d 100644
--- a/lib/core/utils/dq-element.js
+++ b/lib/core/utils/dq-element.js
@@ -174,10 +174,10 @@ function getSource(element) {
   if (!source && typeof window.XMLSerializer === 'function') {
     source = new window.XMLSerializer().serializeToString(element);
   }
-  let htmlString = truncate(source || '');
   // Remove unwanted attributes
-  const regex = /\s*data-percy-[^=]+="[^"]*"/g;
-  htmlString = htmlString.replace(regex, '');
+  const regex = /\s*data-percy-[^=]+="[^"]*"/g; // Remove unwanted attributes
+  source = (source || '').replace(regex, '');
+  const htmlString = truncate(source);
   return htmlString;
 }