diff --git a/dlls/mshtml/htmldoc3.c b/dlls/mshtml/htmldoc3.c
index d636834a3ec..b0efb7c4b8e 100644
--- a/dlls/mshtml/htmldoc3.c
+++ b/dlls/mshtml/htmldoc3.c
@@ -421,37 +421,36 @@ static HRESULT WINAPI HTMLDocument3_getElementById(IHTMLDocument3 *iface, BSTR v
                                                    IHTMLElement **pel)
 {
     HTMLDocument *This = HTMLDOC3_THIS(iface);
-    nsIDOMDocument *nsdoc = NULL;
-    nsIDOMElement *nselem = NULL;
+    nsIDOMElement *nselem;
     HTMLDOMNode *node;
     nsAString id_str;
     nsresult nsres;
 
     TRACE("(%p)->(%s %p)\n", This, debugstr_w(v), pel);
 
-    *pel = NULL;
-
-    if(!This->nscontainer)
-        return S_OK;
-
-    nsres = nsIWebNavigation_GetDocument(This->nscontainer->navigation, &nsdoc);
-    if(NS_FAILED(nsres) || !nsdoc)
-        return S_OK;
-
-    nsAString_Init(&id_str, v);
-    nsIDOMDocument_GetElementById(nsdoc, &id_str, &nselem);
-    nsIDOMDocument_Release(nsdoc);
-    nsAString_Finish(&id_str);
-
-    if(!nselem) {
-        *pel = NULL;
-        return S_OK;
+    if(!This->nsdoc) {
+        WARN("NULL nsdoc\n");
+        return E_UNEXPECTED;
     }
 
-    node = get_node(This, (nsIDOMNode*)nselem, TRUE);
-    nsIDOMElement_Release(nselem);
+    nsAString_Init(&id_str, v);
+    nsres = nsIDOMHTMLDocument_GetElementById(This->nsdoc, &id_str, &nselem);
+    nsAString_Finish(&id_str);
+    if(FAILED(nsres)) {
+        ERR("GetElementById failed: %08x\n", nsres);
+        return E_FAIL;
+    }
 
-    return IHTMLDOMNode_QueryInterface(HTMLDOMNODE(node), &IID_IHTMLElement, (void**)pel);
+    if(nselem) {
+        node = get_node(This, (nsIDOMNode*)nselem, TRUE);
+        nsIDOMElement_Release(nselem);
+
+        IHTMLDOMNode_QueryInterface(HTMLDOMNODE(node), &IID_IHTMLElement, (void**)pel);
+    }else {
+        *pel = NULL;
+    }
+
+    return S_OK;
 }