Index: core.js
===================================================================
--- core.js	(revision 5998)
+++ core.js	(working copy)
@@ -1284,8 +1284,13 @@
 		jQuery.className[ jQuery.className.has( this, classNames ) ? "remove" : "add" ]( this, classNames );
 	},
 
-	remove: function( selector ) {
+	remove: function( selector, preserveChildren ) {
 		if ( !selector || jQuery.filter( selector, [ this ] ).length ) {
+			if ( this.parentNode && preserveChildren ) {
+				while ( this.firstChild ) {
+					this.parentNode.insertBefore( this.firstChild, this );
+				}
+			}
 			// Prevent memory leaks
 			jQuery( "*", this ).add([this]).each(function(){
 				jQuery.event.remove(this);