diff --git a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/libxml2_parser.rb b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/libxml2_parser.rb
index 348d684..158b1ee 100644
--- a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/libxml2_parser.rb
+++ b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/libxml2_parser.rb
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ def node_to_hash(node, hash = {}) # rubocop:disable Metrics/AbcSize, Metrics/Cyc
           if c.element?
             node_to_hash(c, node_hash)
           elsif c.text? || c.cdata?
-            node_hash[MultiXml::CONTENT_ROOT] << c.content
+            node_hash[MultiXml::CONTENT_ROOT] += c.content
           end
         end
 
diff --git a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/oga.rb b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/oga.rb
index 0c78f7f..bc52ec7 100644
--- a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/oga.rb
+++ b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/oga.rb
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ def node_to_hash(node, hash = {}) # rubocop:disable Metrics/AbcSize, Metrics/Cyc
           if c.is_a?(::Oga::XML::Element)
             node_to_hash(c, node_hash)
           elsif c.is_a?(::Oga::XML::Text) || c.is_a?(::Oga::XML::Cdata)
-            node_hash[MultiXml::CONTENT_ROOT] << c.text
+            node_hash[MultiXml::CONTENT_ROOT] += c.text
           end
         end
 
diff --git a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/rexml.rb b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/rexml.rb
index d06f921..2c09fea 100644
--- a/lib/multi_xml/parsers/rexml.rb
+++ b/lib/multi_xml/parsers/rexml.rb
@@ -57,8 +57,7 @@ def collapse(element)
       def merge_texts!(hash, element)
         if element.has_text?
           # must use value to prevent double-escaping
-          texts = ""
-          element.texts.each { |t| texts << t.value }
+          texts = element.texts.map(&:value).join
           merge!(hash, MultiXml::CONTENT_ROOT, texts)
         else
           hash