Remove empty <p> tags from the_content() input

snippet.php

<?php
/*
 * Remove empty <p> tags from the_content() input
 *
 */
add_filter('the_content', 'remove_empty_p', 20, 1);
function remove_empty_p($content){
  $content = force_balance_tags($content);
	return preg_replace('#<p>\s*+(<br\s*/*>)?\s*</p>#i', '', $content);
}