diff --git a/lib/helpers.js b/lib/helpers.js
index 81dcdac..6f651ed 100644
--- a/lib/helpers.js
+++ b/lib/helpers.js
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ helpers.escape = function(text) {
 };
 
 helpers.parseTags = function(text) {
-  return Element.prototype._parseTags.call(
+  return helpers.Element.prototype._parseTags.call(
     { parseTags: true, screen: Screen.global }, text);
 };
 
@@ -128,7 +128,7 @@ helpers.generateTags = function(style, text) {
 };
 
 helpers.attrToBinary = function(style, element) {
-  return Element.prototype.sattr.call(element || {}, style);
+  return helpers.Element.prototype.sattr.call(element || {}, style);
 };
 
 helpers.stripTags = function(text) {
@@ -149,3 +149,10 @@ helpers.dropUnicode = function(text) {
     .replace(unicode.chars.combining, '')
     .replace(unicode.chars.surrogate, '?');
 };
+
+helpers.__defineGetter__('Element', function() {
+  if (!helpers._element) {
+    helpers._element = require('./widgets/element');
+  }
+  return helpers._element;
+});