diff --git a/lib/handlebars.js b/lib/handlebars.js
index f0d4e943..a96df4cf 100644
--- a/lib/handlebars.js
+++ b/lib/handlebars.js
@@ -25,12 +25,33 @@ Handlebars.print = function(ast) {
 Handlebars.compile = function(string) {
   var ast = Handlebars.parse(string);
 
-  return function(context, fallback) {
-    var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, fallback);
+  return function(context, helpers, partials) {
+    var helpers, partials;
+
+    if(!helpers) {
+      helpers  = this.helpers;
+    }
+
+    if(!partials) {
+      partials = this.partials;
+    }
+
+    var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, helpers, partials);
     runtime.accept(ast);
     return runtime.buffer;
   };
 };
+
+Handlebars.helpers  = {};
+Handlebars.partials = {};
+
+Handlebars.registerHelper = function(name, fn) {
+  this.helpers[name] = fn;
+};
+
+Handlebars.registerPartial = function(name, str) {
+  this.partials[name] = str;
+};
 // END(BROWSER)
 
 exports.Handlebars = Handlebars;
diff --git a/lib/handlebars/runtime.js b/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
index 75b9d9ab..b58ba241 100644
--- a/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
+++ b/lib/handlebars/runtime.js
@@ -19,9 +19,10 @@ Handlebars.Exception       = require("handlebars/utils").Exception;
 // new Context given a path. For instance, if the data
 // is { person: { name: "Alan" } }, a Context wrapping
 // "Alan" can be extracted by searching for "person/name"
-Handlebars.Context = function(data, fallback) {
+Handlebars.Context = function(data, helpers, partials) {
   this.data     = data;
-  this.fallback = fallback;
+  this.helpers  = helpers || {};
+  this.partials = partials || {};
 };
 
 Handlebars.Context.prototype = {
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ Handlebars.Context.prototype = {
 
   // Make a shallow copy of the Context
   clone: function() {
-    return new Handlebars.Context(this.data, this.fallback);
+    return new Handlebars.Context(this.data, this.helpers, this.partials);
   },
 
   // Search for an object inside the Context's data. The
@@ -54,7 +55,7 @@ Handlebars.Context.prototype = {
     }
 
     if(parts.length === 1 && context.data === undefined) {
-      context.data = context.fallback[parts[0]];
+      context.data = context.helpers[parts[0]];
     }
 
     return context;
@@ -69,18 +70,14 @@ Handlebars.proxy = function(obj) {
   return new Proxy();
 };
 
-Handlebars.Runtime = function(context, fallback, stack) {
+Handlebars.Runtime = function(context, helpers, partials, stack) {
   this.stack = stack || [];
   this.buffer = "";
 
-  var newContext = this.context = new Handlebars.Context();
-
   if(context && context.isContext) {
-    newContext.data     = context.data;
-    newContext.fallback = context.fallback;
+    this.context = context.clone();
   } else {
-    newContext.data     = context;
-    newContext.fallback = fallback || {};
+    this.context = new Handlebars.Context(context, helpers, partials)
   }
 };
 
@@ -139,7 +136,7 @@ Handlebars.Runtime.prototype = {
 
     if(toString.call(data) !== "[object Function]") {
       params = [data];
-      data   = this.context.fallback.helperMissing;
+      data   = this.context.helpers.helperMissing;
     } else {
       params = this.evaluateParams(mustache.params);
     }
@@ -157,7 +154,7 @@ Handlebars.Runtime.prototype = {
   },
 
   partial: function(partial) {
-    var partials = this.context.fallback.partials || {};
+    var partials = this.context.partials || {};
     var id = partial.id.original;
 
     var partialBody = partials[partial.id.original];
@@ -179,7 +176,7 @@ Handlebars.Runtime.prototype = {
     } else {
       context = this.context;
     }
-    var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, this.context.fallback, this.stack.slice(0));
+    var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, null, null, this.stack.slice(0));
     this.buffer = this.buffer + runtime.program(program);
   },
 
@@ -252,13 +249,16 @@ Handlebars.Runtime.prototype = {
   },
 
   wrapProgram: function(program) {
-    var runtime = this, stack = this.stack.slice(0);
+    var runtime  = this,
+        stack    = this.stack.slice(0),
+        helpers  = this.context.helpers,
+        partials = this.context.partials;
+
     stack.push(this.context);
-    var fallback = this.context.fallback;
 
     return function(context) {
       if(context && context.isWrappedContext) { context = context.__data__; }
-      var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, fallback, stack);
+      var runtime = new Handlebars.Runtime(context, helpers, partials, stack);
       runtime.program(program);
       return runtime.buffer;
     };
diff --git a/spec/qunit_spec.js b/spec/qunit_spec.js
index d1c74a97..4b652a9f 100644
--- a/spec/qunit_spec.js
+++ b/spec/qunit_spec.js
@@ -378,7 +378,7 @@ test("basic partials", function() {
   var string = "Dudes: {{#dudes}}{{> dude}}{{/dudes}}";
   var partial = "{{name}} ({{url}}) ";
   var hash = {dudes: [{name: "Yehuda", url: "http://yehuda"}, {name: "Alan", url: "http://alan"}]};
-  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {partials: {dude: partial}}], "Dudes: Yehuda (http://yehuda) Alan (http://alan) ",
+  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {}, {dude: partial}], "Dudes: Yehuda (http://yehuda) Alan (http://alan) ",
                   "Basic partials output based on current context.");
 });
 
@@ -386,7 +386,7 @@ test("partials with context", function() {
   var string = "Dudes: {{>dude dudes}}";
   var partial = "{{#this}}{{name}} ({{url}}) {{/this}}";
   var hash = {dudes: [{name: "Yehuda", url: "http://yehuda"}, {name: "Alan", url: "http://alan"}]};
-  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {partials: {dude: partial}}], "Dudes: Yehuda (http://yehuda) Alan (http://alan) ",
+  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {}, {dude: partial}], "Dudes: Yehuda (http://yehuda) Alan (http://alan) ",
                   "Partials can be passed a context");
 });
 
@@ -395,7 +395,7 @@ test("partial in a partial", function() {
   var dude = "{{name}} {{> url}} ";
   var url = "<a href='{{url}}'>{{url}}</a>";
   var hash = {dudes: [{name: "Yehuda", url: "http://yehuda"}, {name: "Alan", url: "http://alan"}]};
-  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {partials: {dude: dude, url: url}}], "Dudes: Yehuda <a href='http://yehuda'>http://yehuda</a> Alan <a href='http://alan'>http://alan</a> ", "Partials are rendered inside of other partials");
+  shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {}, {dude: dude, url: url}], "Dudes: Yehuda <a href='http://yehuda'>http://yehuda</a> Alan <a href='http://alan'>http://alan</a> ", "Partials are rendered inside of other partials");
 });
 
 test("rendering undefined partial throws an exception", function() {
@@ -409,14 +409,14 @@ test("GH-14: a partial preceding a selector", function() {
    var string = "Dudes: {{>dude}} {{another_dude}}";
    var dude = "{{name}}";
    var hash = {name:"Jeepers", another_dude:"Creepers"};
-   shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {partials: {dude:dude}}], "Dudes: Jeepers Creepers", "Regular selectors can follow a partial");
+   shouldCompileTo(string, [hash, {}, {dude:dude}], "Dudes: Jeepers Creepers", "Regular selectors can follow a partial");
 });
 
 test("Partial containing complex expression", function() {
 	var template = "Dudes: {{#dudes}}{{> dude}} {{/dudes}}";
 	var dude = "{{../salutation}} {{name}}";
 	var hash = {salutation: "Mr.", dudes: [{name: "Yehuda"}, {name: "Alan"}]};
-	shouldCompileTo(template, [hash, {partials: {dude: dude}}], "Dudes: Mr. Yehuda Mr. Alan ");
+	shouldCompileTo(template, [hash, {}, {dude: dude}], "Dudes: Mr. Yehuda Mr. Alan ");
 });
 
 module("String literal parameters");