diff --git a/content/xbl/src/nsXBLContentSink.cpp b/content/xbl/src/nsXBLContentSink.cpp
index aa0d628d8516..77bb5dee48d7 100644
--- a/content/xbl/src/nsXBLContentSink.cpp
+++ b/content/xbl/src/nsXBLContentSink.cpp
@@ -355,12 +355,19 @@ nsXBLContentSink::CreateElement(const nsIParserNode& aNode, PRInt32 aNameSpaceID
     if (!prototype)
       return NS_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
     
-    prototype->mType = nsXULPrototypeNode::eType_RefCounted_Element;
     prototype->mNodeInfo = aNodeInfo;
-    
+
+    // Reset the refcnt to 0.  Normally XUL prototype elements get a refcnt of 1
+    // to represent ownership by the XUL prototype document.  In our case we have
+    // no prototype document, and our initial ref count of 1 will come from being
+    // wrapped by a real XUL element in the Create call below.
+    prototype->mRefCnt = 0;
+
     AddAttributesToXULPrototype(aNode, prototype);
 
+    // Following this function call, the prototype's ref count will be 1.
     nsresult rv = nsXULElement::Create(prototype, mDocument, PR_FALSE, aResult);
+
     if (NS_FAILED(rv)) return rv;
     return NS_OK;
   }
diff --git a/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.cpp b/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.cpp
index 687c2d714ea8..8180484602a5 100644
--- a/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.cpp
+++ b/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.cpp
@@ -515,11 +515,8 @@ nsXULElement::Init()
 
 nsXULElement::~nsXULElement()
 {
-    if (mPrototype && mPrototype->mType == nsXULPrototypeNode::eType_RefCounted_Element) {
-        mPrototype->mRefCnt--;
-        if (mPrototype->mRefCnt == 0)
-            delete mPrototype;
-    }
+    if (mPrototype)
+        mPrototype->Release();
 
     delete mSlots;
 
@@ -578,8 +575,7 @@ nsXULElement::Create(nsXULPrototypeElement* aPrototype,
     element->mPrototype = aPrototype;
     element->mDocument = aDocument;
 
-    if (aPrototype->mType == nsXULPrototypeNode::eType_RefCounted_Element)
-        aPrototype->mRefCnt++;
+    aPrototype->AddRef();
 
     if (aIsScriptable) {
         // Check each attribute on the prototype to see if we need to do
@@ -4760,13 +4756,7 @@ nsresult nsXULElement::MakeHeavyweight()
       }
     }
 
-    if (proto->mType == nsXULPrototypeNode::eType_RefCounted_Element) {
-      proto->mRefCnt--;
-      if (proto->mRefCnt == 0)
-        delete proto;
-    }
-    
-
+    proto->Release();
     return NS_OK;
 }
 
diff --git a/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.h b/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.h
index f37a66b613da..b31de7f61c9f 100644
--- a/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.h
+++ b/content/xul/content/src/nsXULElement.h
@@ -186,24 +186,31 @@ public:
 class nsXULPrototypeNode
 {
 public:
-    enum Type { eType_Element, eType_RefCounted_Element, eType_Script, eType_Text };
+    enum Type { eType_Element, eType_Script, eType_Text };
 
     Type                     mType;
 
-    union {
-      PRInt32                  mLineNo;
-      PRInt32                  mRefCnt;
-    };
-
+    PRInt32                  mLineNo;
+    PRInt32                  mRefCnt;
+          
     virtual ~nsXULPrototypeNode() {}
     virtual nsresult Serialize(nsIObjectOutputStream* aStream,
                                nsIScriptContext* aContext);
     virtual nsresult Deserialize(nsIObjectInputStream* aStream,
                                  nsIScriptContext* aContext);
 
+    void AddRef() { mRefCnt++; };
+    void Release() 
+    { 
+        mRefCnt--; 
+        if (mRefCnt == 0) 
+            delete this; 
+    };
+    virtual void ReleaseSubtree() { Release(); };
+
 protected:
     nsXULPrototypeNode(Type aType, PRInt32 aLineNo)
-        : mType(aType), mLineNo(aLineNo) {}
+        : mType(aType), mLineNo(aLineNo), mRefCnt(1) {}
 };
 
 class nsXULPrototypeElement : public nsXULPrototypeNode
@@ -226,13 +233,19 @@ public:
 
         delete[] mAttributes;
         delete mClassList;
-
-        for (PRInt32 i = mNumChildren - 1; i >= 0; --i)
-            delete mChildren[i];
-
         delete[] mChildren;
     }
 
+    virtual void ReleaseSubtree() 
+    {
+      if (mChildren) {
+        for (PRInt32 i = mNumChildren-1; i >= 0; i--)
+          mChildren[i]->ReleaseSubtree();
+      }
+
+      nsXULPrototypeNode::ReleaseSubtree();
+    }
+
     virtual nsresult Serialize(nsIObjectOutputStream* aStream,
                                nsIScriptContext* aContext);
     virtual nsresult Deserialize(nsIObjectInputStream* aStream,
diff --git a/content/xul/document/src/nsXULContentSink.cpp b/content/xul/document/src/nsXULContentSink.cpp
index 48fb6c167f5c..0477e591e2d6 100644
--- a/content/xul/document/src/nsXULContentSink.cpp
+++ b/content/xul/document/src/nsXULContentSink.cpp
@@ -1399,7 +1399,7 @@ XULContentSinkImpl::CreateElement(nsINodeInfo *aNodeInfo,
         return NS_ERROR_OUT_OF_MEMORY;
 
     element->mNodeInfo    = aNodeInfo;
-
+    
     *aResult = element;
     return NS_OK;
 }
diff --git a/content/xul/document/src/nsXULPrototypeDocument.cpp b/content/xul/document/src/nsXULPrototypeDocument.cpp
index 470fac288df2..2b7c700db11a 100644
--- a/content/xul/document/src/nsXULPrototypeDocument.cpp
+++ b/content/xul/document/src/nsXULPrototypeDocument.cpp
@@ -238,14 +238,15 @@ nsXULPrototypeDocument::Init()
     return NS_OK;
 }
 
-
 nsXULPrototypeDocument::~nsXULPrototypeDocument()
 {
     if (mGlobalObject) {
         mGlobalObject->SetContext(nsnull); // remove circular reference
         mGlobalObject->SetGlobalObjectOwner(nsnull); // just in case
     }
-    delete mRoot;
+    
+    if (mRoot)
+        mRoot->ReleaseSubtree();
 }
 
 NS_IMPL_ISUPPORTS3(nsXULPrototypeDocument,