diff --git a/src/lib/template/templatizer.html b/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
index 32fb652170..6225d0c07a 100644
--- a/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
+++ b/src/lib/template/templatizer.html
@@ -198,7 +198,9 @@
     },
 
     _customPrepAnnotations: function(archetype, template) {
-      archetype._template = template;
+      // Don't store the actual template instance to avoid leaking; just
+      // store an object referencing its content
+      archetype._template = {_content: template._content};
       var c = template._content;
       if (!c._notes) {
         var rootDataHost = archetype._rootDataHost;