diff --git a/lib/patches.js b/lib/patches.js
index 679f5bd114..eb71bb4e1a 100644
--- a/lib/patches.js
+++ b/lib/patches.js
@@ -16,6 +16,10 @@ if (!window.WrapperElement) {
     return inElement.webkitCreateShadowRoot();
   };
   window.templateContent = function(inTemplate) {
+    // allow MDV to bootstrap templates if it's around
+    if (window.HTMLTemplateElement && HTMLTemplateElement.bootstrap) {
+      HTMLTemplateElement.bootstrap(inTemplate);
+    }
     if (!inTemplate.content && !inTemplate._content) {
       var frag = document.createDocumentFragment();
       while (inTemplate.firstChild) {