diff --git a/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/compile_pipeline.js b/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/compile_pipeline.js
index 1eca885b13..7d23f9ba23 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/compile_pipeline.js
+++ b/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/compile_pipeline.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import {List, ListWrapper} from 'facade/collection';
-import {Element, TemplateElement, Node} from 'facade/dom';
+import {Element, Node, DOM} from 'facade/dom';
 import {CompileElement} from './compile_element';
 import {CompileControl} from './compile_control';
 import {CompileStep} from './compile_step';
@@ -23,12 +23,7 @@ export class CompilePipeline {
   _process(results, parent:CompileElement, element:Element) {
     var current = new CompileElement(element);
     this._control.internalProcess(results, 0, parent, current);
-    var childNodes;
-    if (element instanceof TemplateElement) {
-      childNodes = element.content.childNodes;
-    } else {
-      childNodes = element.childNodes;
-    }
+    var childNodes = DOM.templateAwareRoot(element).childNodes;
     for (var i=0; i<childNodes.length; i++) {
       var node = childNodes[i];
       if (node.nodeType === Node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
diff --git a/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/text_interpolation_parser.js b/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/text_interpolation_parser.js
index 4084ab84f9..4300201de1 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/text_interpolation_parser.js
+++ b/modules/core/src/compiler/pipeline/text_interpolation_parser.js
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 import {RegExpWrapper, StringWrapper} from 'facade/lang';
-import {TemplateElement, Node, DOM} from 'facade/dom';
+import {Node, DOM} from 'facade/dom';
 
 import {CompileStep} from './compile_step';
 import {CompileElement} from './compile_element';
@@ -17,12 +17,7 @@ var INTERPOLATION_REGEXP = RegExpWrapper.create('\\{\\{(.*?)\\}\\}');
 export class TextInterpolationParser extends CompileStep {
   process(parent:CompileElement, current:CompileElement, control:CompileControl) {
     var element = current.element;
-    var childNodes;
-    if (element instanceof TemplateElement) {
-      childNodes = element.content.childNodes;
-    } else {
-      childNodes = element.childNodes;
-    }
+    var childNodes = DOM.templateAwareRoot(element).childNodes;
     for (var i=0; i<childNodes.length; i++) {
       var node = childNodes[i];
       if (node.nodeType === Node.TEXT_NODE) {
diff --git a/modules/core/src/compiler/view.js b/modules/core/src/compiler/view.js
index 0b8ff26138..6b52323a4c 100644
--- a/modules/core/src/compiler/view.js
+++ b/modules/core/src/compiler/view.js
@@ -75,7 +75,12 @@ export class ProtoView {
 
   instantiate(context, appInjector:Injector):View {
     var clone = DOM.clone(this.element);
-    var elements = ListWrapper.clone(DOM.getElementsByClassName(clone, NG_BINDING_CLASS));
+    var elements;
+    if (clone instanceof TemplateElement) {
+      elements = ListWrapper.clone(DOM.querySelectorAll(clone.content, `.${NG_BINDING_CLASS}`));
+    } else {
+      elements = ListWrapper.clone(DOM.getElementsByClassName(clone, NG_BINDING_CLASS));
+    }
     if (DOM.hasClass(clone, NG_BINDING_CLASS)) {
       ListWrapper.insert(elements, 0, clone);
     }
@@ -202,7 +207,7 @@ export class ProtoView {
   }
 
   static _collectTextNodes(allTextNodes, element, indices) {
-    var childNodes = DOM.childNodes(element);
+    var childNodes = DOM.templateAwareRoot(element).childNodes;
     for (var i = 0; i < indices.length; ++i) {
       ListWrapper.push(allTextNodes, childNodes[indices[i]]);
     }
diff --git a/modules/core/test/compiler/view_spec.js b/modules/core/test/compiler/view_spec.js
index 5c6b232869..ea8dff3cf3 100644
--- a/modules/core/test/compiler/view_spec.js
+++ b/modules/core/test/compiler/view_spec.js
@@ -20,75 +20,78 @@ export function main() {
 
     describe('ProtoView.instantiate', function() {
 
-      describe('collect root nodes', () => {
+      function createCollectDomNodesTestCases(useTemplateElement:boolean) {
 
-        it('should use the ProtoView element if it is no TemplateElement', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<div id="1"></div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
+        function templateAwareCreateElement(html) {
+          return createElement(useTemplateElement ? `<template>${html}</template>` : html);
+        }
+
+        it('should collect the root node in the ProtoView element', () => {
+          var pv = new ProtoView(templateAwareCreateElement('<div id="1"></div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
           var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
           expect(view.nodes.length).toBe(1);
           expect(view.nodes[0].getAttribute('id')).toEqual('1');
         });
 
-        it('should use the ProtoView elements children if it is a TemplateElement', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<template><div id="1"></div></template>'),
-            new ProtoWatchGroup());
-          var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
-          expect(view.nodes.length).toBe(1);
-          expect(view.nodes[0].getAttribute('id')).toEqual('1');
+        describe('collect elements with property bindings', () => {
+
+          it('should collect property bindings on the root element if it has the ng-binding class', () => {
+            var pv = new ProtoView(templateAwareCreateElement('<div [prop]="a" class="ng-binding"></div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
+            pv.bindElement(null);
+            pv.bindElementProperty('prop', parser.parseBinding('a'));
+
+            var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
+            expect(view.bindElements.length).toEqual(1);
+            expect(view.bindElements[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0]);
+          });
+
+          it('should collect property bindings on child elements with ng-binding class', () => {
+            var pv = new ProtoView(templateAwareCreateElement('<div><span></span><span class="ng-binding"></span></div>'),
+              new ProtoWatchGroup());
+            pv.bindElement(null);
+            pv.bindElementProperty('a', parser.parseBinding('b'));
+
+            var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
+            expect(view.bindElements.length).toEqual(1);
+            expect(view.bindElements[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[1]);
+          });
+
         });
 
+        describe('collect text nodes with bindings', () => {
+
+          it('should collect text nodes under the root element', () => {
+            var pv = new ProtoView(templateAwareCreateElement('<div class="ng-binding">{{}}<span></span>{{}}</div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
+            pv.bindElement(null);
+            pv.bindTextNode(0, parser.parseBinding('a'));
+            pv.bindTextNode(2, parser.parseBinding('b'));
+
+            var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
+            expect(view.textNodes.length).toEqual(2);
+            expect(view.textNodes[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[0]);
+            expect(view.textNodes[1]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[2]);
+          });
+
+          it('should collect text nodes with bindings on child elements with ng-binding class', () => {
+            var pv = new ProtoView(templateAwareCreateElement('<div><span> </span><span class="ng-binding">{{}}</span></div>'),
+              new ProtoWatchGroup());
+            pv.bindElement(null);
+            pv.bindTextNode(0, parser.parseBinding('b'));
+
+            var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
+            expect(view.textNodes.length).toEqual(1);
+            expect(view.textNodes[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[1].childNodes[0]);
+          });
+
+        });
+      }
+
+      describe('collect dom nodes with a regular element as root', () => {
+        createCollectDomNodesTestCases(false);
       });
 
-      describe('collect elements with property bindings', () => {
-
-        it('should collect property bindings on the root element if it has the ng-binding class', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<div [prop]="a" class="ng-binding"></div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
-          pv.bindElement(null);
-          pv.bindElementProperty('prop', parser.parseBinding('a'));
-
-          var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
-          expect(view.bindElements.length).toEqual(1);
-          expect(view.bindElements[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0]);
-        });
-
-        it('should collect property bindings on child elements with ng-binding class', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<div><span></span><span class="ng-binding"></span></div>'),
-            new ProtoWatchGroup());
-          pv.bindElement(null);
-          pv.bindElementProperty('a', parser.parseBinding('b'));
-
-          var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
-          expect(view.bindElements.length).toEqual(1);
-          expect(view.bindElements[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[1]);
-        });
-
-      });
-
-      describe('collect text nodes with bindings', () => {
-
-        it('should collect text nodes under the root element', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<div class="ng-binding">{{}}<span></span>{{}}</div>'), new ProtoWatchGroup());
-          pv.bindElement(null);
-          pv.bindTextNode(0, parser.parseBinding('a'));
-          pv.bindTextNode(2, parser.parseBinding('b'));
-
-          var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
-          expect(view.textNodes.length).toEqual(2);
-          expect(view.textNodes[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[0]);
-          expect(view.textNodes[1]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[2]);
-        });
-
-        it('should collect text nodes with bindings on child elements with ng-binding class', () => {
-          var pv = new ProtoView(createElement('<div><span> </span><span class="ng-binding">{{}}</span></div>'),
-            new ProtoWatchGroup());
-          pv.bindElement(null);
-          pv.bindTextNode(0, parser.parseBinding('b'));
-
-          var view = pv.instantiate(null, null);
-          expect(view.textNodes.length).toEqual(1);
-          expect(view.textNodes[0]).toBe(view.nodes[0].childNodes[1].childNodes[0]);
-        });
-
+      describe('collect dom nodes with a template element as root', () => {
+        createCollectDomNodesTestCases(true);
       });
 
       describe('create ElementInjectors', () => {
diff --git a/modules/facade/src/dom.dart b/modules/facade/src/dom.dart
index 01ae174e76..4a08921ec8 100644
--- a/modules/facade/src/dom.dart
+++ b/modules/facade/src/dom.dart
@@ -79,4 +79,7 @@ class DOM {
   static attributeMap(Element element) {
     return element.attributes;
   }
+  static Node templateAwareRoot(Element el) {
+    return el is TemplateElement ? el.content : el;
+  }
 }
diff --git a/modules/facade/src/dom.es6 b/modules/facade/src/dom.es6
index d7fcde9610..c5c722f983 100644
--- a/modules/facade/src/dom.es6
+++ b/modules/facade/src/dom.es6
@@ -78,5 +78,7 @@ export class DOM {
     }
     return res;
   }
-
+  static templateAwareRoot(el:Element):Node {
+    return el instanceof TemplateElement ? el.content : el;
+  }
 }