diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 666d517b..e7a211ab 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -22,6 +22,22 @@ also need to include the
 [CLDR.js pluralization library](https://github.com/jamesarosen/CLDR.js)
 and set `CLDR.defaultLanguage` to the current locale code (e.g. "de").
 
+#### New: I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN
+
+In previous versions of Ember-I18n, the `{{t}}` helper emitted a `<span>` tag
+by default; the tag name could be changed, but the tag could not be removed.
+
+Ember-I18n now uses Metamorph tags so it no longer requires a wrapping tag.
+Emitting a `<span>` is still the default for backwards-compatibility reasons,
+but this will change in the next major release. If you wish to opt to
+tagless translations, set
+
+```js
+Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN = false;
+```
+
+The examples below assume this feature flag is set to `true` (the default).
+
 ### Examples
 
 Given
@@ -35,37 +51,55 @@ Em.I18n.translations = {
   'button.add_user.disabled': 'Saving...'
 };
 ```
+
 #### A simple translation:
 ```html
 <h2>{{t "user.edit.title"}}</h2>
 ```
 yields
 ```html
-<h2><span id="i18n-123">Edit User</span></h2>
+<h2>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
+  <span id="i18n-123">Edit User</span>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
+</h2>
 ```
-#### Remove the `span` by specifying a `tagName`:
+
+#### Emit directly into the h2:
 ```html
 {{t "user.edit.title" tagName="h2"}}
 ```
 yields
 ```html
+<script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
 <h2 id="i18n-123">Edit User</h2>
+<script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
 ```
+
 #### Set interpolated values directly:
 ```html
 <h2>{{t "user.followers.title" count="2"}}</h2>
 ```
 yields
 ```html
-<h2><span id="i18n-123">All 2 Followers</span></h2>
+<h2>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
+  <span id="i18n-123">All 2 Followers</span>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
+</h2>
 ```
+
 #### Bind interpolated values:
 ```html
 <h2>{{t "user.followers.title" countBinding="user.followers.count"}}</h2>
 ```
 yields
 ```html
-<h2><span id="i18n-123">All 2 Followers</span></h2>
+<h2>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
+  <span id="i18n-123">All 2 Followers</span>
+  <script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
+</h2>
 ```
 if `user.getPath('followers.count')` returns `2`.
 
@@ -96,7 +130,9 @@ Add the mixin `Em.Button.reopen(Em.I18n.TranslateableAttributes)` and use like t
 yields
 ```html
 <button title="Add a user">
+  <script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
   Add
+  <script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
 </button>
 ```
 
@@ -109,7 +145,9 @@ yields
 yields
 ```html
 <a title="Add a user" data-disable-with="Saving...">
+  <script id="metamorph-28-start"></script>
   Add
+  <script id="metamorph-28-end"></script>
 </a>
 ```
 #### Nested Translation Syntax:
diff --git a/lib/i18n.js b/lib/i18n.js
index 3d18b973..e6d0c474 100644
--- a/lib/i18n.js
+++ b/lib/i18n.js
@@ -159,51 +159,80 @@
     return ++Ember.uuid;
   }
 
+  var TranslationView = Ember._MetamorphView.extend({
+
+    translationKey: null,
+
+    wrappingTagName: Ember.computed(function(propertyName, newValue) {
+      if (arguments.length > 1 && newValue != null) { return newValue; }
+
+      var useSpanByDefault;
+
+      if (Ember.FEATURES.hasOwnProperty('I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN')) {
+        useSpanByDefault = Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN;
+      } else {
+        Ember.deprecate('The {{t}} helper will no longer use a <span> tag in future versions of Ember.I18n. Set Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN to false to quiet these warnings and maintain older behavior.');
+        useSpanByDefault = true;
+      }
+
+      return useSpanByDefault ? 'span' : null;
+    }),
+
+    render: function(buffer) {
+      var wrappingTagName = this.get('wrappingTagName');
+      var text = Ember.I18n.t(this.get('translationKey'), this.get('context'));
+
+      if (wrappingTagName) { buffer.push('<' + wrappingTagName + ' id="' + uniqueElementId() + '">'); }
+      buffer.push(text);
+      if (wrappingTagName) { buffer.push('</' + wrappingTagName + '>'); }
+    }
+
+  });
+
   EmHandlebars.registerHelper('t', function(key, options) {
-    var attrs, context, data, elementID, result, tagName, view;
-    context = this;
-    attrs = options.hash;
-    data = options.data;
-    view = data.view;
-    tagName = attrs.tagName || 'span';
+    var context = this;
+    var data = options.data;
+    var attrs = options.hash;
+    var tagName = attrs.tagName;
     delete attrs.tagName;
-    elementID = uniqueElementId();
+
+    var translationView = TranslationView.create({
+      context: attrs,
+      translationKey: key,
+      wrappingTagName: tagName
+    });
 
     Ember.keys(attrs).forEach(function(property) {
-      var bindPath, currentValue, invoker, isBindingMatch, normalized, normalizedPath, observer, propertyName, root, _ref;
-      isBindingMatch = property.match(isBinding);
-
-      if (isBindingMatch) {
-        propertyName = isBindingMatch[1];
-        bindPath = attrs[property];
-        currentValue = get(context, bindPath, options);
-        attrs[propertyName] = currentValue;
-        invoker = null;
-        normalized = EmHandlebars.normalizePath(context, bindPath, data);
-        _ref = [normalized.root, normalized.path], root = _ref[0], normalizedPath = _ref[1];
-
-        observer = function() {
-          var elem, newValue;
-          if (view.$() == null) {
-            Ember.removeObserver(root, normalizedPath, invoker);
-            return;
-          }
-          newValue = get(context, bindPath, options);
-          elem = view.$("#" + elementID);
-          attrs[propertyName] = newValue;
-          return elem.html(I18n.t(key, attrs));
-        };
-
-        invoker = function() {
-          Ember.run.scheduleOnce('afterRender', observer);
-        };
-
-        return Ember.addObserver(root, normalizedPath, invoker);
-      }
+      var isBindingMatch = property.match(isBinding);
+      if (!isBindingMatch) { return; }
+
+      var propertyName = isBindingMatch[1];
+      var bindPath = attrs[property];
+      var currentValue = get(context, bindPath, options);
+
+      attrs[propertyName] = currentValue;
+
+      var invoker = null;
+      var normalized = EmHandlebars.normalizePath(context, bindPath, data);
+      var _ref = [normalized.root, normalized.path], root = _ref[0], normalizedPath = _ref[1];
+
+      var observer = function() {
+        if (translationView.$() == null) {
+          Ember.removeObserver(root, normalizedPath, invoker);
+          return;
+        }
+        attrs[propertyName] = get(context, bindPath, options);
+        translationView.rerender();
+      };
+
+      invoker = function() {
+        Ember.run.scheduleOnce('afterRender', observer);
+      };
+
+      return Ember.addObserver(root, normalizedPath, invoker);
     });
 
-    result = '<%@ id="%@">%@</%@>'.fmt(tagName, elementID, I18n.t(key, attrs), tagName);
-    return new EmHandlebars.SafeString(result);
+    data.view.appendChild(translationView);
   });
 
   var attrHelperFunction = function(options) {
diff --git a/spec/spec_support.js b/spec/spec_support.js
index 24e1bea4..ed9a40c4 100644
--- a/spec/spec_support.js
+++ b/spec/spec_support.js
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
     mocha.globals([ 'jQuery*' ]);
   }
 
+  Ember.FEATURES = Ember.FEATURES || {};
+
   function renderTemplate(template, options) {
     if (options == null) options = {};
     options.template = Ember.Handlebars.compile(template);
diff --git a/spec/suite.hdbs b/spec/suite.hdbs
index 7c6b08c9..0471ed32 100644
--- a/spec/suite.hdbs
+++ b/spec/suite.hdbs
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
     <script src="./translationExistsSpec.js"></script>
     <script src="./tSpec.js"></script>
     <script src="./translateHelperSpec.js"></script>
+    <script src="./taglessTranslateHelperSpec.js"></script>
     <script src="./translateAttributeHelperSpec.js"></script>
     <script src="./eachTranslatedAttributeSpec.js"></script>
     <script src="./translateablePropertiesSpec.js"></script>
diff --git a/spec/taglessTranslateHelperSpec.js b/spec/taglessTranslateHelperSpec.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b1865ccd
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/taglessTranslateHelperSpec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,62 @@
+describe("{{t}}", function() {
+
+  describe("with Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN on", function() {
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN = true;
+    });
+
+    it("emits a <span> by default", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar"}}');
+      expect(view.$('span').text()).to.equal('A Foobar');
+    });
+
+    it("includes an element ID for backwards compatibility", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar"}}');
+      expect(view.$('span').attr('id')).to.not.equal(undefined);
+    });
+
+    it('obeys a custom tag name', function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar" tagName="h2"}}');
+      expect(view.$('h2').html()).to.equal('A Foobar');
+    });
+
+  });
+
+  describe("with Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN off", function() {
+
+    beforeEach(function() {
+      Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN = false;
+    });
+
+    it("doesn't emit a <span> by default", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar"}}');
+      expect(view.$('span').length).to.equal(0);
+      expect(view.$().text()).to.equal('A Foobar');
+    });
+
+    it("interpolates values", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "bars.all" count="597"}}');
+      expect(view.$().text()).to.equal('All 597 Bars');
+    });
+
+    it("still supports setting a tagName", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar" tagName="span"}}');
+      expect(view.$('span').text()).to.equal('A Foobar');
+    });
+
+    it("includes an element ID when tagName is specified for backwards compatibility", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar" tagName="span"}}');
+      expect(view.$('span').attr('id')).to.not.equal(undefined);
+    });
+
+    it("updates text", function() {
+      var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "bars.all" countBinding="view.count"}}', { count: 992 });
+      expect(view.$().text()).not.to.equal('All 993 Bars');
+      Ember.run(view, 'set', 'count', 993);
+      expect(view.$().text()).to.equal('All 993 Bars');
+    });
+
+  });
+
+});
diff --git a/spec/translateHelperSpec.js b/spec/translateHelperSpec.js
index ad67200a..45525ecd 100644
--- a/spec/translateHelperSpec.js
+++ b/spec/translateHelperSpec.js
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
 describe('{{t}}', function() {
+
+  beforeEach(function() {
+    // compatibility mode:
+    Ember.FEATURES.I18N_TRANSLATE_HELPER_SPAN = true;
+  });
+
   it('outputs simple translated strings', function() {
     var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar"}}');
 
@@ -59,22 +65,6 @@ describe('{{t}}', function() {
     });
   });
 
-  it('uses a span by default', function() {
-    var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar"}}');
-
-    Ember.run(function() {
-      expect(view.$('span').html()).to.equal('A Foobar');
-    });
-  });
-
-  it('obeys a custom tag name', function() {
-    var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar" tagName="h2"}}');
-
-    Ember.run(function() {
-      expect(view.$('h2').html()).to.equal('A Foobar');
-    });
-  });
-
   it('handles interpolations from contextual keywords', function() {
     var view = this.renderTemplate('{{t "foo.bar.named" nameBinding="view.favouriteBeer" }}', {
       favouriteBeer: 'IPA'