diff --git a/src/helpers/ast/to-string.js b/src/helpers/ast/to-string.js
index 4d8dd956..fe6da267 100644
--- a/src/helpers/ast/to-string.js
+++ b/src/helpers/ast/to-string.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@ import * as t from "babel-types";
 // Helper to transform a literal into an string literal.
 export default function toString(literal, restricted = false) {
   let string;
-  if (literal.isStringLiteral()) {
+  if (literal.isStringLiteral() || literal.isTemplateLiteral()) {
     return literal.node;
   }
 
diff --git a/src/helpers/build-children.js b/src/helpers/build-children.js
index 37f4087e..3a679754 100644
--- a/src/helpers/build-children.js
+++ b/src/helpers/build-children.js
@@ -5,6 +5,22 @@ import iDOMMethod from "./idom-method";
 import isLiteralOrSpecial from "./is-literal-or-special";
 import toString from "./ast/to-string";
 
+
+// String concatenations are special cased, so template literals don't
+// require a call to renderArbitrary.
+function isStringConcatenation(path) {
+  if (!(path.isBinaryExpression() && path.node.operator === '+')) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
+  const left = path.get("left");
+  const right = path.get("right");
+  return left.isStringLiteral() ||
+    right.isStringLiteral() ||
+    isStringConcatenation(left) ||
+    isStringConcatenation(right);
+}
+
 // Transforms the children into an array of iDOM function calls
 export default function buildChildren(children, plugin) {
   let renderArbitraryRef;
@@ -38,6 +54,8 @@ export default function buildChildren(children, plugin) {
       }
 
       node = toFunctionCall(iDOMMethod("text", plugin), [value]);
+    } else if (isStringConcatenation(child)) {
+      node = toFunctionCall(iDOMMethod("text", plugin), [child.node]);
     } else if (wasInExpressionContainer && !replacedElements.has(node)) {
       // Arbitrary expressions, e.g. variables, need to be inspected at runtime
       // to determine how to render them.
diff --git a/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/actual.js b/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/actual.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..a742e43f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/actual.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+function render() {
+  return <div>
+    {`${i}`}
+    {`text ${i}`}
+    {`${i} text`}
+    {`text ${i} text`}
+    {"text" - i}
+  </div>;
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/expected.js b/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/expected.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bae0a278
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/text/child-template-literal/expected.js
@@ -0,0 +1,33 @@
+var _hasOwn = Object.prototype.hasOwnProperty;
+
+var _forOwn = function _forOwn(object, iterator) {
+  for (var prop in object) {
+    if (_hasOwn.call(object, prop)) iterator(object[prop], prop);
+  }
+};
+
+var _renderArbitrary = function _renderArbitrary(child) {
+  var type = typeof child;
+
+  if (type === "number" || type === "string" || type === "object" && child instanceof String) {
+    text(child);
+  } else if (type === "function" && child.__jsxDOMWrapper) {
+    child();
+  } else if (Array.isArray(child)) {
+    child.forEach(_renderArbitrary);
+  } else if (type === "object" && String(child) === "[object Object]") {
+    _forOwn(child, _renderArbitrary);
+  }
+};
+
+function render() {
+  elementOpen("div");
+  text("" + i);
+  text("text " + i);
+  text(i + " text");
+  text("text " + i + " text");
+
+  _renderArbitrary("text" - i);
+
+  return elementClose("div");
+}
\ No newline at end of file