diff --git a/src/browser/html/elements.zig b/src/browser/html/elements.zig
index e985ca5d..5be01a1e 100644
--- a/src/browser/html/elements.zig
+++ b/src/browser/html/elements.zig
@@ -640,7 +640,7 @@ pub const HTMLImageElement = struct {
         pub const prototype = *HTMLImageElement;
 
         pub fn constructor(width: ?u32, height: ?u32, page: *const Page) !*parser.Image {
-            const element = try parser.documentCreateHTMLElement(parser.documentHTMLToDocument(page.window.document), "img");
+            const element = try parser.documentCreateElement(parser.documentHTMLToDocument(page.window.document), "img");
             const image: *parser.Image = @ptrCast(element);
             if (width) |width_| try parser.imageSetWidth(image, width_);
             if (height) |height_| try parser.imageSetHeight(image, height_);
diff --git a/src/browser/netsurf.zig b/src/browser/netsurf.zig
index 903797c7..72eedee7 100644
--- a/src/browser/netsurf.zig
+++ b/src/browser/netsurf.zig
@@ -2062,20 +2062,20 @@ pub inline fn domImplementationCreateHTMLDocument(title: ?[]const u8) !*Document
     const doc = documentHTMLToDocument(doc_html);
 
     // add hierarchy: html, head, body.
-    const html = try documentCreateHTMLElement(doc, "html");
+    const html = try documentCreateElement(doc, "html");
     _ = try nodeAppendChild(documentToNode(doc), elementToNode(html));
 
-    const head = try documentCreateHTMLElement(doc, "head");
+    const head = try documentCreateElement(doc, "head");
     _ = try nodeAppendChild(elementToNode(html), elementToNode(head));
 
     if (title) |t| {
-        const htitle = try documentCreateHTMLElement(doc, "title");
+        const htitle = try documentCreateElement(doc, "title");
         const txt = try documentCreateTextNode(doc, t);
         _ = try nodeAppendChild(elementToNode(htitle), @as(*Node, @alignCast(@ptrCast(txt))));
         _ = try nodeAppendChild(elementToNode(head), elementToNode(htitle));
     }
 
-    const body = try documentCreateHTMLElement(doc, "body");
+    const body = try documentCreateElement(doc, "body");
     _ = try nodeAppendChild(elementToNode(html), elementToNode(body));
 
     return doc_html;
@@ -2156,21 +2156,29 @@ pub inline fn documentCreateDocument(title: ?[]const u8) !*DocumentHTML {
     return doc_html;
 }
 
-pub fn documentCreateHTMLElement(doc: *Document, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+fn documentCreateHTMLElement(doc: *Document, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+    std.debug.assert(doc.is_html);
+
     var elem: ?*Element = undefined;
     const err = c._dom_html_document_create_element(doc, try strFromData(tag_name), &elem);
     try DOMErr(err);
     return elem.?;
 }
 
-pub inline fn documentCreateElement(doc: *Document, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+pub fn documentCreateElement(doc: *Document, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+    if (doc.is_html) {
+        return documentCreateHTMLElement(doc, tag_name);
+    }
+
     var elem: ?*Element = undefined;
     const err = documentVtable(doc).dom_document_create_element.?(doc, try strFromData(tag_name), &elem);
     try DOMErr(err);
     return elem.?;
 }
 
-pub fn documentCreateHTMLElementNS(doc: *Document, ns: []const u8, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+fn documentCreateHTMLElementNS(doc: *Document, ns: []const u8, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+    std.debug.assert(doc.is_html);
+
     var elem: ?*Element = undefined;
     const err = c._dom_html_document_create_element_ns(
         doc,
@@ -2182,7 +2190,11 @@ pub fn documentCreateHTMLElementNS(doc: *Document, ns: []const u8, tag_name: []c
     return elem.?;
 }
 
-pub inline fn documentCreateElementNS(doc: *Document, ns: []const u8, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+pub fn documentCreateElementNS(doc: *Document, ns: []const u8, tag_name: []const u8) !*Element {
+    if (doc.is_html) {
+        return documentCreateHTMLElementNS(doc, ns, tag_name);
+    }
+
     var elem: ?*Element = undefined;
     const err = documentVtable(doc).dom_document_create_element_ns.?(
         doc,