diff --git a/spec/stdlib/template/builder-spec.coffee b/spec/stdlib/template/builder-spec.coffee
index 28f1da96c..173a3bb60 100644
--- a/spec/stdlib/template/builder-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/stdlib/template/builder-spec.coffee
@@ -20,3 +20,12 @@ fdescribe "Builder", ->
         builder.tag 'li'
 
       expect(builder.toHtml()).toBe("<ol><li></li><li></li></ol>")
+
+    it "can generate tags with text", ->
+      builder.tag 'div', "hello"
+      expect(builder.toHtml()).toBe("<div>hello</div>")
+
+      builder.reset()
+      builder.tag 'div', 22
+      expect(builder.toHtml()).toBe("<div>22</div>")
+
diff --git a/src/stdlib/template/builder.coffee b/src/stdlib/template/builder.coffee
index 41b6807cf..1677f4386 100644
--- a/src/stdlib/template/builder.coffee
+++ b/src/stdlib/template/builder.coffee
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 _ = require 'underscore'
 OpenTag = require 'template/open-tag'
 CloseTag = require 'template/close-tag'
+Text = require 'template/text'
 
 module.exports =
 class Builder
@@ -14,12 +15,15 @@ class Builder
     options = @extractOptions(args)
     @openTag(name)
     options.content?()
+    @text(options.text) if options.text
     @closeTag(name)
 
   extractOptions: (args) ->
     options = {}
     for arg in args
       options.content = arg if _.isFunction(arg)
+      options.text = arg if _.isString(arg)
+      options.text = arg.toString() if _.isNumber(arg)
     options
 
   openTag: (name) ->
@@ -28,6 +32,9 @@ class Builder
   closeTag: (name) ->
     @document.push(new CloseTag(name))
 
+  text: (string) ->
+    @document.push(new Text(string))
+
   reset: ->
     @document = []
 
diff --git a/src/stdlib/template/text.coffee b/src/stdlib/template/text.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f20e1d2e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/stdlib/template/text.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+module.exports =
+class Text
+  constructor: (@string) ->
+
+  toHtml: -> @string
+