diff --git a/packages/@vuepress/core/lib/client/root-mixins/updateMeta.js b/packages/@vuepress/core/lib/client/root-mixins/updateMeta.js
index eb9aebbf22..c5a14a5ba4 100644
--- a/packages/@vuepress/core/lib/client/root-mixins/updateMeta.js
+++ b/packages/@vuepress/core/lib/client/root-mixins/updateMeta.js
@@ -62,7 +62,9 @@ export default {
 function updateMetaTags (newMetaTags, currentMetaTags) {
   if (currentMetaTags) {
     [...currentMetaTags].forEach(c => {
-      document.head.removeChild(c)
+      const parentIsHead = c.parentNode
+           && c.parentNode.tagName.toLocaleUpperCase() === 'HEAD'
+      parentIsHead && document.head.removeChild(c)
     })
   }
   if (newMetaTags) {