diff --git a/crates/obscura-dom/src/serialize.rs b/crates/obscura-dom/src/serialize.rs
index 3850945..8cb2abf 100644
--- a/crates/obscura-dom/src/serialize.rs
+++ b/crates/obscura-dom/src/serialize.rs
@@ -30,10 +30,12 @@ impl DomTree {
     // there rather than under the element (issue #463); for everything else it
     // is the node itself.
     fn content_source(&self, node_id: NodeId) -> NodeId {
-        match self.get_node(node_id).map(|n| n.data) {
-            Some(NodeData::Element { template_contents: Some(contents), .. }) => contents,
-            _ => node_id,
-        }
+        self.with_node(node_id, |n| match &n.data {
+            NodeData::Element { template_contents: Some(contents), .. } => Some(*contents),
+            _ => None,
+        })
+        .flatten()
+        .unwrap_or(node_id)
     }
 
     // Children as work items in document order (top of the LIFO stack first).
@@ -90,7 +92,7 @@ impl DomTree {
                     buf.push_str(name);
                     buf.push('>');
                 }
-                NodeData::Element { name, attrs, .. } => {
+                NodeData::Element { name, attrs, template_contents, .. } => {
                     let tag = name.local.as_ref();
                     if include_self {
                         buf.push('<');
@@ -113,8 +115,11 @@ impl DomTree {
                             stack.push(SerializeWork::CloseTag(tag.to_string()));
                         }
                         // A <template> serializes its contents document, not its
-                        // own (always empty) children — issue #463.
-                        for w in self.child_work(self.content_source(node_id)) {
+                        // own (always empty) children (issue #463). template_contents
+                        // is already in hand from this node, so read it directly
+                        // rather than re-fetching and cloning the node.
+                        let source = template_contents.unwrap_or(node_id);
+                        for w in self.child_work(source) {
                             stack.push(w);
                         }
                     }