diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/area.rb b/lib/webrat/core/area.rb
index fd38183..715bb26 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/area.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/area.rb
@@ -15,11 +15,7 @@ module Webrat
     end
     
     def path
-      if Webrat.configuration.parse_with_nokogiri?
-        @element.path
-      else
-        @element.xpath
-      end
+      Webrat::XML.xpath_to(@element)
     end
     
   protected
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/field.rb b/lib/webrat/core/field.rb
index 82cff97..f52a002 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/field.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/field.rb
@@ -27,11 +27,7 @@ module Webrat
     end
     
     def path
-      if Webrat.configuration.parse_with_nokogiri?
-        @element.path
-      else
-        @element.xpath
-      end
+      Webrat::XML.xpath_to(@element)
     end
     
     def matches_name?(name)
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/form.rb b/lib/webrat/core/form.rb
index 36bb619..47bd006 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/form.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/form.rb
@@ -18,11 +18,7 @@ module Webrat
     def field_by_element(element, *field_types)
       return nil if element.nil?
       
-      if Webrat.configuration.parse_with_nokogiri?
-        expected_path = element.path
-      else
-        expected_path = element.xpath
-      end
+      expected_path = Webrat::XML.xpath_to(element)
       
       fields_by_type(field_types).detect do |possible_field|
         possible_field.path == expected_path
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/locators.rb b/lib/webrat/core/locators.rb
index 7e8a3be..6971c11 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/locators.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/locators.rb
@@ -55,11 +55,7 @@ module Webrat
     def area_by_element(element)
       return nil if element.nil?
       
-      if Webrat.configuration.parse_with_nokogiri?
-        expected_path = element.path
-      else
-        expected_path = element.xpath
-      end
+      expected_path = Webrat::XML.xpath_to(element)
       
       areas.detect do |possible_area|
         possible_area.path == expected_path
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/session.rb b/lib/webrat/core/session.rb
index 2b52a96..8c0765f 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/session.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/session.rb
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ module Webrat
       @data            = {}
       @default_headers = {}
       @custom_headers  = {}
+      @elements        = {}
       @context         = context
     end
 
@@ -110,6 +111,7 @@ module Webrat
       save_and_open_page if exception_caught? && Webrat.configuration.open_error_files?
       raise PageLoadError.new("Page load was not successful (Code: #{response_code.inspect}):\n#{formatted_error}") unless success_code?
       
+      @elements     = {}
       @_scopes      = nil
       @_page_scope  = nil
       @current_url  = url
diff --git a/lib/webrat/core/xml.rb b/lib/webrat/core/xml.rb
index 4572edc..b2c8cb1 100644
--- a/lib/webrat/core/xml.rb
+++ b/lib/webrat/core/xml.rb
@@ -62,6 +62,14 @@ module Webrat #:nodoc:
       end
     end
     
+    def self.xpath_to(element)
+      if Webrat.configuration.parse_with_nokogiri?
+        element.path
+      else
+        element.xpath
+      end
+    end
+    
     def self.attribute(element, attribute_name)
       return element[attribute_name] if element.is_a?(Hash)