diff --git a/src/lib/template/dom-bind.html b/src/lib/template/dom-bind.html
index c0064e9ce7..caac780fa5 100644
--- a/src/lib/template/dom-bind.html
+++ b/src/lib/template/dom-bind.html
@@ -145,6 +145,7 @@
         this._prepBehaviors();
         this._prepConfigure();
         this._prepBindings();
+        this._prepPropertyInfo();
         Polymer.Base._initFeatures.call(this);
         this._children = Array.prototype.slice.call(this.root.childNodes);
       }
diff --git a/src/lib/template/templatizer.html b/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
index 035e410db1..4d51457d4b 100644
--- a/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
+++ b/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
@@ -117,6 +117,7 @@
       this._customPrepEffects(archetype);
       archetype._prepBehaviors();
       archetype._prepBindings();
+      archetype._prepPropertyInfo();
 
       // boilerplate code
       archetype._notifyPathUp = this._notifyPathUpImpl;
diff --git a/src/micro/attributes.html b/src/micro/attributes.html
index f4ac4d8d88..5367b1ebcb 100644
--- a/src/micro/attributes.html
+++ b/src/micro/attributes.html
@@ -104,14 +104,10 @@
       if (!this._serializing) {
         var property = property || Polymer.CaseMap.dashToCamelCase(attribute);
         // fallback to property lookup
-        info = info || this._propertyInfo[property];
+        info = info || (this._propertyInfo && this._propertyInfo[property]);
         if (info && !info.readOnly) {
           var v = this.getAttribute(attribute);
-          // TODO(sorvell): maybe not kosher but under current rules, 
-          // we can avoid deserializing null values for non-Boolean types.
-          if (v !== null || info.type === Boolean) {
-            model[property] = this.deserialize(v, info.type);
-          }
+          model[property] = this.deserialize(v, info.type);
         }
       }
     },
diff --git a/src/micro/properties.html b/src/micro/properties.html
index 83f23b3ea4..92156c32bd 100644
--- a/src/micro/properties.html
+++ b/src/micro/properties.html
@@ -146,6 +146,12 @@
         for (var i in source) {
           t = target[i];
           s = source[i];
+          // optimization: avoid info'ing properties that are protected and
+          // not read only since they are not needed for attributes or
+          // configuration.
+          if (i.indexOf('_') === 0 && !s.readOnly) {
+            continue;
+          }
           if (!target[i]) {
             target[i] = t = typeof(s) === 'function' ? {type: s} : s;
             t.attribute = Polymer.CaseMap.camelToDashCase(i);
diff --git a/src/standard/configure.html b/src/standard/configure.html
index fdf0036f87..8d493fa60e 100644
--- a/src/standard/configure.html
+++ b/src/standard/configure.html
@@ -125,9 +125,10 @@
         //if (!this.getPropertyInfo(prop).readOnly) {
         // TODO(sorvell): tempatized things don't have _propertyInfo atm
         // so fallback to property lookup.
-        var info = this._propertyInfo && this._propertyInfo[prop] || 
-          this.getPropertyInfo(prop);
-        if (!info.readOnly) {
+        // var info = this._propertyInfo && this._propertyInfo[prop] || 
+        //   this.getPropertyInfo(prop);
+        var info = this._propertyInfo[prop];
+        if (!info || !info.readOnly) {
           a[prop] = b[prop];
         }
       }