diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/provider.ts b/packages/core/src/view/provider.ts
index 7aa37d9162..83f1725caf 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/provider.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/provider.ts
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ import {ViewContainerRef} from '../linker/view_container_ref';
 import {ViewEncapsulation} from '../metadata/view';
 import {Renderer as RendererV1, Renderer2, RendererFactory2, RendererType2} from '../render/api';
 
-import {createChangeDetectorRef, createInjector, createRendererV1, createTemplateRef, createViewContainerRef} from './refs';
+import {createChangeDetectorRef, createInjector, createRendererV1} from './refs';
 import {BindingDef, BindingType, DepDef, DepFlags, DisposableFn, NodeData, NodeDef, NodeFlags, OutputDef, OutputType, ProviderData, QueryBindingType, QueryDef, QueryValueType, RootData, Services, ViewData, ViewDefinition, ViewFlags, ViewState, asElementData, asProviderData} from './types';
 import {checkBinding, dispatchEvent, filterQueryId, isComponentView, splitMatchedQueriesDsl, tokenKey, viewParentEl} from './util';
 
@@ -356,10 +356,10 @@ export function resolveDep(
         case ElementRefTokenKey:
           return new ElementRef(asElementData(view, elDef.index).renderElement);
         case ViewContainerRefTokenKey:
-          return createViewContainerRef(view, elDef);
+          return asElementData(view, elDef.index).viewContainer;
         case TemplateRefTokenKey: {
           if (elDef.element.template) {
-            return createTemplateRef(view, elDef);
+            return asElementData(view, elDef.index).template;
           }
           break;
         }
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/query.ts b/packages/core/src/view/query.ts
index b59b3ac103..f38bb1c7fc 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/query.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/query.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@ import {QueryList} from '../linker/query_list';
 import {TemplateRef} from '../linker/template_ref';
 import {ViewContainerRef} from '../linker/view_container_ref';
 
-import {createTemplateRef, createViewContainerRef} from './refs';
 import {NodeDef, NodeFlags, QueryBindingDef, QueryBindingType, QueryDef, QueryValueType, Services, ViewData, asElementData, asProviderData, asQueryList} from './types';
 import {declaredViewContainer, filterQueryId, isEmbeddedView, viewParentEl} from './util';
 
@@ -141,8 +140,8 @@ function calcQueryValues(
         (nodeDef.element.template.nodeMatchedQueries & queryDef.filterId) === queryDef.filterId) {
       // check embedded views that were attached at the place of their template.
       const elementData = asElementData(view, i);
-      const embeddedViews = elementData.embeddedViews;
-      if (embeddedViews) {
+      if (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) {
+        const embeddedViews = elementData.viewContainer._embeddedViews;
         for (let k = 0; k < embeddedViews.length; k++) {
           const embeddedView = embeddedViews[k];
           const dvc = declaredViewContainer(embeddedView);
@@ -151,7 +150,7 @@ function calcQueryValues(
           }
         }
       }
-      const projectedViews = elementData.projectedViews;
+      const projectedViews = elementData.template._projectedViews;
       if (projectedViews) {
         for (let k = 0; k < projectedViews.length; k++) {
           const projectedView = projectedViews[k];
@@ -180,10 +179,10 @@ export function getQueryValue(
         value = new ElementRef(asElementData(view, nodeDef.index).renderElement);
         break;
       case QueryValueType.TemplateRef:
-        value = createTemplateRef(view, nodeDef);
+        value = asElementData(view, nodeDef.index).template;
         break;
       case QueryValueType.ViewContainerRef:
-        value = createViewContainerRef(view, nodeDef);
+        value = asElementData(view, nodeDef.index).viewContainer;
         break;
       case QueryValueType.Provider:
         value = asProviderData(view, nodeDef.index).instance;
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/refs.ts b/packages/core/src/view/refs.ts
index 6eb66f1159..1cc13a002b 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/refs.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/refs.ts
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ import {Renderer as RendererV1, Renderer2} from '../render/api';
 import {Type} from '../type';
 import {VERSION} from '../version';
 
-import {ArgumentType, BindingType, DebugContext, DepFlags, ElementData, NodeCheckFn, NodeData, NodeDef, NodeFlags, RootData, Services, ViewData, ViewDefinition, ViewDefinitionFactory, ViewState, asElementData, asProviderData, asTextData} from './types';
+import {ArgumentType, BindingType, DebugContext, DepFlags, ElementData, NodeCheckFn, NodeData, NodeDef, NodeFlags, RootData, Services, TemplateData, ViewContainerData, ViewData, ViewDefinition, ViewDefinitionFactory, ViewState, asElementData, asProviderData, asTextData} from './types';
 import {isComponentView, markParentViewsForCheck, renderNode, resolveViewDefinition, rootRenderNodes, splitNamespace, tokenKey, viewParentEl} from './util';
 import {attachEmbeddedView, detachEmbeddedView, moveEmbeddedView, renderDetachView} from './view_attach';
 
@@ -84,15 +84,17 @@ class ComponentRef_ extends ComponentRef<any> {
   onDestroy(callback: Function): void { this._viewRef.onDestroy(callback); }
 }
 
-export function createViewContainerRef(view: ViewData, elDef: NodeDef): ViewContainerRef {
-  return new ViewContainerRef_(view, elDef);
+export function createViewContainerData(
+    view: ViewData, elDef: NodeDef, elData: ElementData): ViewContainerData {
+  return new ViewContainerRef_(view, elDef, elData);
 }
 
-class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerRef {
-  private _data: ElementData;
-  constructor(private _view: ViewData, private _elDef: NodeDef) {
-    this._data = asElementData(_view, _elDef.index);
-  }
+class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerData {
+  /**
+   * @internal
+   */
+  _embeddedViews: ViewData[] = [];
+  constructor(private _view: ViewData, private _elDef: NodeDef, private _data: ElementData) {}
 
   get element(): ElementRef { return new ElementRef(this._data.renderElement); }
 
@@ -109,7 +111,7 @@ class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerRef {
   }
 
   clear(): void {
-    const len = this._data.embeddedViews.length;
+    const len = this._embeddedViews.length;
     for (let i = len - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
       const view = detachEmbeddedView(this._data, i);
       Services.destroyView(view);
@@ -117,7 +119,7 @@ class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerRef {
   }
 
   get(index: number): ViewRef {
-    const view = this._data.embeddedViews[index];
+    const view = this._embeddedViews[index];
     if (view) {
       const ref = new ViewRef_(view);
       ref.attachToViewContainerRef(this);
@@ -126,7 +128,7 @@ class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerRef {
     return null;
   }
 
-  get length(): number { return this._data.embeddedViews.length; };
+  get length(): number { return this._embeddedViews.length; };
 
   createEmbeddedView<C>(templateRef: TemplateRef<C>, context?: C, index?: number):
       EmbeddedViewRef<C> {
@@ -153,13 +155,13 @@ class ViewContainerRef_ implements ViewContainerRef {
   }
 
   move(viewRef: ViewRef_, currentIndex: number): ViewRef {
-    const previousIndex = this._data.embeddedViews.indexOf(viewRef._view);
+    const previousIndex = this._embeddedViews.indexOf(viewRef._view);
     moveEmbeddedView(this._data, previousIndex, currentIndex);
     return viewRef;
   }
 
   indexOf(viewRef: ViewRef): number {
-    return this._data.embeddedViews.indexOf((<ViewRef_>viewRef)._view);
+    return this._embeddedViews.indexOf((<ViewRef_>viewRef)._view);
   }
 
   remove(index?: number): void {
@@ -240,11 +242,16 @@ export class ViewRef_ implements EmbeddedViewRef<any>, InternalViewRef {
   }
 }
 
-export function createTemplateRef(view: ViewData, def: NodeDef): TemplateRef<any> {
+export function createTemplateData(view: ViewData, def: NodeDef): TemplateData {
   return new TemplateRef_(view, def);
 }
 
-class TemplateRef_ extends TemplateRef<any> {
+class TemplateRef_ extends TemplateRef<any> implements TemplateData {
+  /**
+   * @internal
+   */
+  _projectedViews: ViewData[];
+
   constructor(private _parentView: ViewData, private _def: NodeDef) { super(); }
 
   createEmbeddedView(context: any): EmbeddedViewRef<any> {
@@ -273,11 +280,8 @@ class Injector_ implements Injector {
 export function nodeValue(view: ViewData, index: number): any {
   const def = view.def.nodes[index];
   if (def.flags & NodeFlags.TypeElement) {
-    if (def.element.template) {
-      return createTemplateRef(view, def);
-    } else {
-      return asElementData(view, def.index).renderElement;
-    }
+    const elData = asElementData(view, def.index);
+    return def.element.template ? elData.template : elData.renderElement;
   } else if (def.flags & NodeFlags.TypeText) {
     return asTextData(view, def.index).renderText;
   } else if (def.flags & (NodeFlags.CatProvider | NodeFlags.TypePipe)) {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/types.ts b/packages/core/src/view/types.ts
index a734b6fbb0..c46fa05b22 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/types.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/types.ts
@@ -355,12 +355,18 @@ export function asTextData(view: ViewData, index: number): TextData {
 export interface ElementData {
   renderElement: any;
   componentView: ViewData;
-  embeddedViews: ViewData[];
+  viewContainer: ViewContainerData;
+  template: TemplateData;
+}
+
+export interface ViewContainerData extends ViewContainerRef { _embeddedViews: ViewData[]; }
+
+export interface TemplateData extends TemplateRef<any> {
   // views that have been created from the template
   // of this element,
   // but inserted into the embeddedViews of another element.
   // By default, this is undefined.
-  projectedViews: ViewData[];
+  _projectedViews: ViewData[];
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/util.ts b/packages/core/src/view/util.ts
index 885f7e197f..8b89bdbca8 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/util.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/util.ts
@@ -293,11 +293,9 @@ function visitRenderNode(
     const rn = renderNode(view, nodeDef);
     execRenderNodeAction(view, rn, action, parentNode, nextSibling, target);
     if (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) {
-      const embeddedViews = asElementData(view, nodeDef.index).embeddedViews;
-      if (embeddedViews) {
-        for (let k = 0; k < embeddedViews.length; k++) {
-          visitRootRenderNodes(embeddedViews[k], action, parentNode, nextSibling, target);
-        }
+      const embeddedViews = asElementData(view, nodeDef.index).viewContainer._embeddedViews;
+      for (let k = 0; k < embeddedViews.length; k++) {
+        visitRootRenderNodes(embeddedViews[k], action, parentNode, nextSibling, target);
       }
     }
     if (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.TypeElement && !nodeDef.element.name) {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/view.ts b/packages/core/src/view/view.ts
index d62fc3f0b6..26aaa08723 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/view.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/view.ts
@@ -15,6 +15,7 @@ import {appendNgContent} from './ng_content';
 import {callLifecycleHooksChildrenFirst, checkAndUpdateDirectiveDynamic, checkAndUpdateDirectiveInline, createDirectiveInstance, createPipeInstance, createProviderInstance} from './provider';
 import {checkAndUpdatePureExpressionDynamic, checkAndUpdatePureExpressionInline, createPureExpression} from './pure_expression';
 import {checkAndUpdateQuery, createQuery, queryDef} from './query';
+import {createTemplateData, createViewContainerData} from './refs';
 import {checkAndUpdateTextDynamic, checkAndUpdateTextInline, createText} from './text';
 import {ArgumentType, CheckType, ElementData, ElementDef, NodeData, NodeDef, NodeFlags, ProviderData, ProviderDef, RootData, Services, TextDef, ViewData, ViewDefinition, ViewDefinitionFactory, ViewFlags, ViewHandleEventFn, ViewState, ViewUpdateFn, asElementData, asProviderData, asPureExpressionData, asQueryList, asTextData} from './types';
 import {checkBindingNoChanges, isComponentView, resolveViewDefinition, viewParentEl} from './util';
@@ -255,9 +256,12 @@ function createViewNodes(view: ViewData) {
         nodeData = <ElementData>{
           renderElement: el,
           componentView,
-          embeddedViews: (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) ? [] : undefined,
-          projectedViews: undefined
+          viewContainer: undefined,
+          template: nodeDef.element.template ? createTemplateData(view, nodeDef) : undefined
         };
+        if (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) {
+          nodeData.viewContainer = createViewContainerData(view, nodeDef, nodeData);
+        }
         break;
       case NodeFlags.TypeText:
         nodeData = createText(view, renderHost, nodeDef) as any;
@@ -525,11 +529,9 @@ function execEmbeddedViewsAction(view: ViewData, action: ViewAction) {
     const nodeDef = def.nodes[i];
     if (nodeDef.flags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) {
       // a leaf
-      const embeddedViews = asElementData(view, i).embeddedViews;
-      if (embeddedViews) {
-        for (let k = 0; k < embeddedViews.length; k++) {
-          callViewAction(embeddedViews[k], action);
-        }
+      const embeddedViews = asElementData(view, i).viewContainer._embeddedViews;
+      for (let k = 0; k < embeddedViews.length; k++) {
+        callViewAction(embeddedViews[k], action);
       }
     } else if ((nodeDef.childFlags & NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews) === 0) {
       // a parent with leafs
diff --git a/packages/core/src/view/view_attach.ts b/packages/core/src/view/view_attach.ts
index 8e6ac818b4..82be6dd500 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/view/view_attach.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/view/view_attach.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {RenderNodeAction, declaredViewContainer, isComponentView, renderNode, ro
 
 export function attachEmbeddedView(
     parentView: ViewData, elementData: ElementData, viewIndex: number, view: ViewData) {
-  let embeddedViews = elementData.embeddedViews;
+  let embeddedViews = elementData.viewContainer._embeddedViews;
   if (viewIndex == null) {
     viewIndex = embeddedViews.length;
   }
@@ -19,9 +19,9 @@ export function attachEmbeddedView(
   addToArray(embeddedViews, viewIndex, view);
   const dvcElementData = declaredViewContainer(view);
   if (dvcElementData && dvcElementData !== elementData) {
-    let projectedViews = dvcElementData.projectedViews;
+    let projectedViews = dvcElementData.template._projectedViews;
     if (!projectedViews) {
-      projectedViews = dvcElementData.projectedViews = [];
+      projectedViews = dvcElementData.template._projectedViews = [];
     }
     projectedViews.push(view);
   }
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ export function attachEmbeddedView(
 }
 
 export function detachEmbeddedView(elementData: ElementData, viewIndex: number): ViewData {
-  const embeddedViews = elementData.embeddedViews;
+  const embeddedViews = elementData.viewContainer._embeddedViews;
   if (viewIndex == null || viewIndex >= embeddedViews.length) {
     viewIndex = embeddedViews.length - 1;
   }
@@ -46,7 +46,7 @@ export function detachEmbeddedView(elementData: ElementData, viewIndex: number):
 
   const dvcElementData = declaredViewContainer(view);
   if (dvcElementData && dvcElementData !== elementData) {
-    const projectedViews = dvcElementData.projectedViews;
+    const projectedViews = dvcElementData.template._projectedViews;
     removeFromArray(projectedViews, projectedViews.indexOf(view));
   }
 
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ export function detachEmbeddedView(elementData: ElementData, viewIndex: number):
 
 export function moveEmbeddedView(
     elementData: ElementData, oldViewIndex: number, newViewIndex: number): ViewData {
-  const embeddedViews = elementData.embeddedViews;
+  const embeddedViews = elementData.viewContainer._embeddedViews;
   const view = embeddedViews[oldViewIndex];
   removeFromArray(embeddedViews, oldViewIndex);
   if (newViewIndex == null) {
diff --git a/packages/core/test/linker/regression_integration_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/linker/regression_integration_spec.ts
index ada1445d2c..3c8bc89bff 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/linker/regression_integration_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/linker/regression_integration_spec.ts
@@ -6,8 +6,9 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {ANALYZE_FOR_ENTRY_COMPONENTS, Component, InjectionToken, Injector, Pipe, PipeTransform, Provider, Renderer2} from '@angular/core';
+import {ANALYZE_FOR_ENTRY_COMPONENTS, Component, Directive, InjectionToken, Injector, Input, Pipe, PipeTransform, Provider, QueryList, Renderer2, TemplateRef, ViewChildren, ViewContainerRef} from '@angular/core';
 import {TestBed} from '@angular/core/testing';
+import {By} from '@angular/platform-browser';
 import {expect} from '@angular/platform-browser/testing/src/matchers';
 
 export function main() {
@@ -222,6 +223,52 @@ function declareTests({useJit}: {useJit: boolean}) {
       const txtNode = ctx.componentInstance.renderer.createText('test');
       expect(txtNode).toHaveText('test');
     });
+
+    it('should not recreate TemplateRef references during dirty checking', () => {
+      @Component({template: '<div [someDir]="someRef"></div><ng-template #someRef></ng-template>'})
+      class MyComp {
+      }
+
+      @Directive({selector: '[someDir]'})
+      class MyDir {
+        @Input('someDir') template: TemplateRef<any>;
+      }
+
+      const ctx =
+          TestBed.configureTestingModule({declarations: [MyComp, MyDir]}).createComponent(MyComp);
+      const dir = <MyDir>ctx.debugElement.query(By.directive(MyDir)).injector.get(MyDir);
+
+      expect(dir.template).toBeUndefined();
+
+      ctx.detectChanges();
+      const template = dir.template;
+      expect(template).toBeDefined();
+
+      ctx.detectChanges();
+      expect(dir.template).toBe(template);
+    });
+
+    it('should not recreate ViewContainerRefs in queries', () => {
+      @Component({template: '<div #vc></div><div *ngIf="show" #vc></div>'})
+      class MyComp {
+        @ViewChildren('vc', {read: ViewContainerRef})
+        viewContainers: QueryList<ViewContainerRef>;
+
+        show = true;
+      }
+
+      const ctx = TestBed.configureTestingModule({declarations: [MyComp]}).createComponent(MyComp);
+
+      ctx.componentInstance.show = true;
+      ctx.detectChanges();
+      expect(ctx.componentInstance.viewContainers.length).toBe(2);
+      const vc = ctx.componentInstance.viewContainers.first;
+      expect(vc).toBeDefined();
+
+      ctx.componentInstance.show = false;
+      ctx.detectChanges();
+      expect(ctx.componentInstance.viewContainers.first).toBe(vc);
+    });
   });
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/core/test/view/embedded_view_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/view/embedded_view_spec.ts
index dd0699b772..9e0203582e 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/view/embedded_view_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/view/embedded_view_spec.ts
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ export function main() {
 
       moveEmbeddedView(viewContainerData, 0, 1);
 
-      expect(viewContainerData.embeddedViews).toEqual([childView1, childView0]);
+      expect(viewContainerData.viewContainer._embeddedViews).toEqual([childView1, childView0]);
       // 2 anchors + 2 elements
       const rootChildren = getDOM().childNodes(rootNodes[0]);
       expect(rootChildren.length).toBe(4);
diff --git a/packages/core/test/view/ng_content_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/view/ng_content_spec.ts
index 1ef265c66f..38f5694132 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/view/ng_content_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/view/ng_content_spec.ts
@@ -96,7 +96,7 @@ export function main() {
       const anchor = asElementData(view, 2);
       expect((getDOM().childNodes(getDOM().firstChild(rootNodes[0]))[0]))
           .toBe(anchor.renderElement);
-      const embeddedView = anchor.embeddedViews[0];
+      const embeddedView = anchor.viewContainer._embeddedViews[0];
       expect((getDOM().childNodes(getDOM().firstChild(rootNodes[0]))[1]))
           .toBe(asTextData(embeddedView, 0).renderText);
     });
diff --git a/packages/core/test/view/query_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/view/query_spec.ts
index faa287bbce..4417abfc6b 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/view/query_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/view/query_spec.ts
@@ -353,7 +353,8 @@ export function main() {
         }
 
         const {view} = createAndGetRootNodes(compViewDef([
-          anchorDef(NodeFlags.None, [[someQueryId, QueryValueType.ViewContainerRef]], null, 2),
+          anchorDef(
+              NodeFlags.EmbeddedViews, [[someQueryId, QueryValueType.ViewContainerRef]], null, 2),
           directiveDef(NodeFlags.None, null, 1, QueryService, []),
           queryDef(
               NodeFlags.TypeContentQuery | NodeFlags.DynamicQuery, someQueryId,