Empty formatted fields display extraneous closing paragraph tag - view won't validate

I am seeing a problem with a standard text field in CCK. Text fields that allow formatted user input always display a closing paragrph tag even if they are empty. Plain text empty fields do not have this problem. However, any field that takes formated input and is left empty will display this code:

<div class="field field-type-text field-field-first-text"><div class="field-label">First_text:</div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item"></p>
</div></div></div>

See that extra </p> in there? This is with the default bluemarine theme enabled and no customization. The same problem is present even when enabling the CCK theming tips outline in the CCK download. I can't find out where in the world that </p> is coming from.

This problem has been reported by at least one other person here.

I am using Drupal 4.7 and CCK 4.7.x-1.5.1.