diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index f0660a6..dfec57f 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -55,6 +55,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "memchr",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "aliasable"
+version = "0.1.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "250f629c0161ad8107cf89319e990051fae62832fd343083bea452d93e2205fd"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "aligned-vec"
 version = "0.6.4"
@@ -3419,6 +3425,30 @@ dependencies = [
  "pin-project-lite",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "ouroboros"
+version = "0.18.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "1e0f050db9c44b97a94723127e6be766ac5c340c48f2c4bb3ffa11713744be59"
+dependencies = [
+ "aliasable",
+ "ouroboros_macro",
+ "static_assertions",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "ouroboros_macro"
+version = "0.18.5"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "3c7028bdd3d43083f6d8d4d5187680d0d3560d54df4cc9d752005268b41e64d0"
+dependencies = [
+ "heck 0.4.1",
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "proc-macro2-diagnostics",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.103",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "overload"
 version = "0.1.1"
@@ -3784,6 +3814,19 @@ dependencies = [
  "unicode-ident",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "proc-macro2-diagnostics"
+version = "0.10.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "af066a9c399a26e020ada66a034357a868728e72cd426f3adcd35f80d88d88c8"
+dependencies = [
+ "proc-macro2",
+ "quote",
+ "syn 2.0.103",
+ "version_check",
+ "yansi",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "profiling"
 version = "1.0.16"
@@ -5600,6 +5643,7 @@ dependencies = [
  "image",
  "log",
  "lru",
+ "ouroboros",
  "resvg",
  "roxmltree 0.20.0",
  "rustc-hash 2.1.1",
@@ -6372,6 +6416,12 @@ dependencies = [
  "hashlink",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "yansi"
+version = "1.0.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+checksum = "cfe53a6657fd280eaa890a3bc59152892ffa3e30101319d168b781ed6529b049"
+
 [[package]]
 name = "yansi-term"
 version = "0.1.2"
diff --git a/wgui/Cargo.toml b/wgui/Cargo.toml
index 4d5d3a7..46ec4a3 100644
--- a/wgui/Cargo.toml
+++ b/wgui/Cargo.toml
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ image = { version = "0.25.6", default-features = false, features = [
 ] }
 log = { workspace = true }
 lru = "0.14.0"
+ouroboros = "0.18.5"
 resvg = { version = "0.45.1", default-features = false }
 roxmltree = "0.20.0"
 rustc-hash = "2.1.1"
diff --git a/wgui/src/parser.rs b/wgui/src/parser.rs
index 61e0f94..4384c5b 100644
--- a/wgui/src/parser.rs
+++ b/wgui/src/parser.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@ use std::{
 	rc::Rc,
 };
 
+use ouroboros::self_referencing;
 use taffy::{
 	AlignContent, AlignItems, AlignSelf, BoxSizing, Display, FlexDirection, FlexWrap, JustifyContent,
 	JustifySelf, Overflow,
@@ -29,8 +30,17 @@ use crate::{
 
 type VarMap = HashMap<Rc<str>, Rc<str>>;
 
+#[self_referencing]
+struct XmlDocument {
+	xml: String,
+
+	#[borrows(xml)]
+	#[covariant]
+	doc: roxmltree::Document<'this>,
+}
+
 struct Template {
-	doc: Rc<roxmltree::Document<'static>>,
+	doc: Rc<XmlDocument>,
 	node: roxmltree::NodeId,
 	parameters: HashMap<Rc<str>, Rc<str>>,
 }
@@ -58,8 +68,7 @@ struct ParserContext<'a> {
 
 struct ParserFile<'a> {
 	path: PathBuf,
-	_xml: Rc<Box<str>>,
-	document: Rc<roxmltree::Document<'static>>,
+	document: Rc<XmlDocument>,
 	ctx: Rc<RefCell<ParserContext<'a>>>,
 }
 
@@ -806,7 +815,6 @@ fn parse_children<'a>(
 				};
 
 				let file = ParserFile {
-					_xml: file._xml.clone(),
 					ctx: file.ctx.clone(),
 					document: template.doc.clone(),
 					path: file.path.clone(),
@@ -815,6 +823,7 @@ fn parse_children<'a>(
 				let doc = template.doc.clone();
 
 				let template_node = doc
+					.borrow_doc()
 					.get_node(template.node)
 					.ok_or(anyhow::anyhow!("template node invalid"))?;
 
@@ -849,12 +858,9 @@ pub fn parse_from_assets(
 	Ok(result)
 }
 
-fn assets_path_to_xml(
-	assets: &mut Box<dyn AssetProvider>,
-	path: &Path,
-) -> anyhow::Result<Rc<String>> {
+fn assets_path_to_xml(assets: &mut Box<dyn AssetProvider>, path: &Path) -> anyhow::Result<String> {
 	let data = assets.load_from_path(&path.to_string_lossy())?;
-	Ok(Rc::from(String::from_utf8(data)?))
+	Ok(String::from_utf8(data)?)
 }
 
 fn get_doc_from_path<'a>(
@@ -862,24 +868,19 @@ fn get_doc_from_path<'a>(
 	ctx: &mut ParserContext,
 	path: &Path,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<ParserFile<'a>> {
-	let opt = roxmltree::ParsingOptions {
-		allow_dtd: true,
-		..Default::default()
-	};
-
-	let xml_string = assets_path_to_xml(&mut ctx.layout.assets, path)?;
-
-	let xml = Rc::new(<std::string::String as Clone>::clone(&xml_string).into_boxed_str());
-
-	let xml_ref: &'static str = Box::leak(Box::new(Rc::clone(&xml)));
-
-	let document = Rc::new(roxmltree::Document::parse_with_options(xml_ref, opt)?);
+	let xml = assets_path_to_xml(&mut ctx.layout.assets, path)?;
+	let document = XmlDocument::new(xml, |xml| {
+		let opt = roxmltree::ParsingOptions {
+			allow_dtd: true,
+			..Default::default()
+		};
+		roxmltree::Document::parse_with_options(xml, opt).unwrap()
+	});
 
 	let file = ParserFile {
 		ctx: ctx_rc.clone(),
 		path: PathBuf::from(path),
-		document,
-		_xml: xml,
+		document: Rc::new(document),
 	};
 
 	Ok(file)
@@ -890,7 +891,7 @@ fn parse_document_root(
 	ctx: &mut ParserContext,
 	parent_id: WidgetID,
 ) -> anyhow::Result<()> {
-	let root = file.document.root();
+	let root = file.document.borrow_doc().root();
 	let tag_layout = require_tag_by_name(&root, "layout")?;
 
 	for child_node in tag_layout.children() {