diff --git a/ensembleperturbation/parsing/adcirc.py b/ensembleperturbation/parsing/adcirc.py
index d3be4b60..f35adf4c 100644
--- a/ensembleperturbation/parsing/adcirc.py
+++ b/ensembleperturbation/parsing/adcirc.py
@@ -758,6 +758,20 @@ def combine_outputs(
                 if elevation_selection is not None:
                     elevation_subset = subset
 
+                if 'element' in file_data:
+                    # keep only elements where all nodes are present
+                    elements = file_data['element'].values
+                    element_mask = numpy.isin(elements, file_data['node'].values).all(axis=1)
+                    elements = elements[element_mask]
+                    # map nodes in element table to local numbering system (start at 0)
+                    node_mapper = numpy.zeros(file_data['node'].max().values + 1, dtype=int)
+                    node_index = numpy.arange(len(file_data['node']))
+                    node_mapper[file_data['node'].values] = node_index
+                    elements = node_mapper[elements]
+                    # update element table in dataset
+                    ele_da = DataArray(data=elements, dims=['nele', 'nvertex'])
+                    file_data = file_data.assign_coords({'element': ele_da})
+
             output_data[basename] = file_data
 
     for basename, file_data in output_data.items():
diff --git a/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/fort.63.nc b/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/fort.63.nc
index 15ff7cf4..35620500 100644
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diff --git a/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/fort.64.nc b/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/fort.64.nc
index 21a217af..e166f352 100644
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diff --git a/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/maxele.63.nc b/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/maxele.63.nc
index 278a21f8..11c78687 100644
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diff --git a/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/maxvel.63.nc b/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/maxvel.63.nc
index ef03ac75..c6d574e1 100644
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diff --git a/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/perturbations.nc b/tests/data/reference/test_combine_outputs/perturbations.nc
index f76ec4e6..21579e5b 100644
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