diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/HTML.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/HTML.hs
index 3083ffcd3..eff642d2e 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/HTML.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Readers/HTML.hs
@@ -813,18 +813,26 @@ pBdo = try $ do
     Nothing  -> contents
 
 pSpan :: PandocMonad m => TagParser m Inlines
-pSpan = try $ do
-  guardEnabled Ext_native_spans
-  TagOpen _ attr' <- lookAhead $ pSatisfy $ tagOpen (=="span") (const True)
-  let attr = toAttr attr'
-  contents <- pInTags "span" inline
-  let isSmallCaps = fontVariant == "small-caps" || "smallcaps" `elem` classes
-                    where styleAttr   = fromMaybe "" $ lookup "style" attr'
-                          fontVariant = fromMaybe "" $ pickStyleAttrProps ["font-variant"] styleAttr
-                          classes     = maybe []
-                                          T.words $ lookup "class" attr'
-  let tag = if isSmallCaps then B.smallcaps else B.spanWith attr
-  return $ tag contents
+pSpan = do
+  (TagOpen _ attr') <- lookAhead (pSatisfy $ tagOpen (=="span") (const True))
+  exts <- getOption readerExtensions
+  if extensionEnabled Ext_native_spans exts
+     then do
+       contents <- pInTags "span" inline
+       let attr = toAttr attr'
+       let classes = maybe [] T.words $ lookup "class" attr'
+       let styleAttr   = fromMaybe "" $ lookup "style" attr'
+       let fontVariant = fromMaybe "" $
+                          pickStyleAttrProps ["font-variant"] styleAttr
+       let isSmallCaps = fontVariant == "small-caps" ||
+                           "smallcaps" `elem` classes
+       let tag = if isSmallCaps then B.smallcaps else B.spanWith attr
+       return $ tag contents
+     else if extensionEnabled Ext_raw_html exts
+             then do
+               tag <- pSatisfy $ tagOpen (=="span") (const True)
+               return $ B.rawInline "html" $ renderTags' [tag]
+             else pInTags "span" inline -- just contents
 
 pRawHtmlInline :: PandocMonad m => TagParser m Inlines
 pRawHtmlInline = do
diff --git a/test/command/8711.md b/test/command/8711.md
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1685e28cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/command/8711.md
@@ -0,0 +1,118 @@
+```
+% pandoc -f html-native_spans -t native
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td>
+  <p><span class="foo">a</span> <span class="bar">b</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+^D
+[ Table
+    ( "" , [] , [] )
+    (Caption Nothing [])
+    [ ( AlignDefault , ColWidthDefault ) ]
+    (TableHead ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+    [ TableBody
+        ( "" , [] , [] )
+        (RowHeadColumns 0)
+        []
+        [ Row
+            ( "" , [] , [] )
+            [ Cell
+                ( "" , [] , [] )
+                AlignDefault
+                (RowSpan 1)
+                (ColSpan 1)
+                [ Para [ Str "a" , Space , Str "b" ] ]
+            ]
+        ]
+    ]
+    (TableFoot ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+]
+
+```
+
+```
+% pandoc -f html-native_spans+raw_html -t native
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td>
+  <p><span class="foo">a</span> <span class="bar">b</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+^D
+[ Table
+    ( "" , [] , [] )
+    (Caption Nothing [])
+    [ ( AlignDefault , ColWidthDefault ) ]
+    (TableHead ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+    [ TableBody
+        ( "" , [] , [] )
+        (RowHeadColumns 0)
+        []
+        [ Row
+            ( "" , [] , [] )
+            [ Cell
+                ( "" , [] , [] )
+                AlignDefault
+                (RowSpan 1)
+                (ColSpan 1)
+                [ Para
+                    [ RawInline (Format "html") "<span class=\"foo\">"
+                    , Str "a"
+                    , RawInline (Format "html") "</span>"
+                    , Space
+                    , RawInline (Format "html") "<span class=\"bar\">"
+                    , Str "b"
+                    , RawInline (Format "html") "</span>"
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ]
+        ]
+    ]
+    (TableFoot ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+]
+
+```
+
+```
+% pandoc -f html -t native
+<table>
+<tr>
+<td>
+  <p><span class="foo">a</span> <span class="bar">b</span></p>
+</td>
+</tr>
+</table>
+^D
+[ Table
+    ( "" , [] , [] )
+    (Caption Nothing [])
+    [ ( AlignDefault , ColWidthDefault ) ]
+    (TableHead ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+    [ TableBody
+        ( "" , [] , [] )
+        (RowHeadColumns 0)
+        []
+        [ Row
+            ( "" , [] , [] )
+            [ Cell
+                ( "" , [] , [] )
+                AlignDefault
+                (RowSpan 1)
+                (ColSpan 1)
+                [ Para
+                    [ Span ( "" , [ "foo" ] , [] ) [ Str "a" ]
+                    , Space
+                    , Span ( "" , [ "bar" ] , [] ) [ Str "b" ]
+                    ]
+                ]
+            ]
+        ]
+    ]
+    (TableFoot ( "" , [] , [] ) [])
+]
+
+```