diff --git a/client.c b/client.c
index 6f1e0e70..09a70933 100644
--- a/client.c
+++ b/client.c
@@ -759,6 +759,17 @@ client_updatesizehints(client_t *c)
     return size;
 }
 
+/** Markup parsing hook.
+ * For now only substitute <title />
+ */
+static void
+client_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
+                      const char **names, const char **values)
+{
+    assert (!strcmp(elem, "title"));
+    buffer_add_xmlescaped(&p->text, p->priv);
+}
+
 /** Parse a markup string which contains special markup sequence relative to a
  * client, i.e. its title, etc.
  * \param c The client concerned by the markup string.
@@ -768,17 +779,18 @@ client_updatesizehints(client_t *c)
 char *
 client_markup_parse(client_t *c, const char *str, ssize_t len)
 {
-    const char *elements[] = { "title", NULL };
-    const char *elements_sub[] = { c->name , NULL };
-    markup_parser_data_t p;
+    static char const * const elements[] = { "title", NULL };
+    markup_parser_data_t p = {
+        .elements   = elements,
+        .priv       = c->name,
+        .on_element = client_markup_on_elem,
+    };
     char *ret;
 
-    markup_parser_data_init(&p, elements, elements_sub, countof(elements));
+    markup_parser_data_init(&p);
 
     if(markup_parse(&p, str, len))
-    {
         ret = buffer_detach(&p.text);
-    }
     else
         ret = a_strdup(str);
 
diff --git a/common/draw.c b/common/draw.c
index 7a18aeff..c7ee6508 100644
--- a/common/draw.c
+++ b/common/draw.c
@@ -216,15 +216,62 @@ typedef struct
     } shadow;
 } draw_parser_data_t;
 
+static void
+draw_markup_on_event(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
+                      const char **names, const char **values)
+{
+    draw_parser_data_t *data = p->priv;
+
+    /* hack: markup.c validates tags so we can avoid strcmps here */
+    switch (*elem) {
+      case 'b': /* bg */
+        for (; *names; names++, values++)
+        {
+            if(!a_strcmp(*names, "color"))
+                data->has_bg_color = xcolor_new(data->connection, data->phys_screen,
+                                                *values, &data->bg_color);
+            else if(!a_strcmp(*names, "image"))
+                data->bg_image = draw_image_new(*values);
+        }
+        break;
+
+      case 't': /* text */
+        for (; *names; names++, values++)
+        {
+            if(!a_strcmp(*names, "align"))
+                data->align = draw_align_get_from_str(*values);
+            else if(!a_strcmp(*names, "shadow"))
+                xcolor_new(data->connection, data->phys_screen, *values,
+                           &data->shadow.color);
+            else if(!a_strcmp(*names, "shadow_offset"))
+                data->shadow.offset = atoi(*values);
+        }
+        break;
+
+      case 'm': /* margin */
+        for (; *names; names++, values++)
+        {
+            if(!a_strcmp(*names, "left"))
+                data->margin.left = atoi(*values);
+            else if(!a_strcmp(*names, "right"))
+                data->margin.right = atoi(*values);
+        }
+        break;
+    }
+}
+
 static bool
 draw_text_markup_expand(draw_parser_data_t *data,
                         const char *str, ssize_t slen)
 {
-    const char *elements[] = { "bg", "text", "margin", NULL };
-    markup_parser_data_t p;
-    int i;
+    static char const * const elements[] = { "bg", "text", "margin", NULL };
+    markup_parser_data_t p = {
+        .elements   = elements,
+        .priv       = data,
+        .on_element = &draw_markup_on_event,
+    };
 
-    markup_parser_data_init(&p, elements, NULL, countof(elements));
+    markup_parser_data_init(&p);
 
     if(!markup_parse(&p, str, slen))
     {
@@ -232,34 +279,6 @@ draw_text_markup_expand(draw_parser_data_t *data,
         return false;
     }
 
-    /* bg */
-    if(p.attribute_names[0])
-        for(i = 0; p.attribute_names[0][i]; i++)
-            if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[0][i], "color"))
-                data->has_bg_color = xcolor_new(data->connection, data->phys_screen,
-                                                    p.attribute_values[0][i], &data->bg_color);
-            else if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[0][i], "image"))
-                data->bg_image = draw_image_new(p.attribute_values[0][i]);
-
-    /* text */
-    if(p.attribute_names[1])
-        for(i = 0; p.attribute_names[1][i]; i++)
-            if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[1][i], "align"))
-                data->align = draw_align_get_from_str(p.attribute_values[1][i]);
-            else if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[1][i], "shadow"))
-                xcolor_new(data->connection, data->phys_screen,
-                               p.attribute_values[1][i], &data->shadow.color);
-            else if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[1][i], "shadow_offset"))
-                data->shadow.offset = atoi(p.attribute_values[1][i]);
-
-    /* margin */
-    if(p.attribute_names[2])
-        for(i = 0; p.attribute_names[2][i]; i++)
-            if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[2][i], "left"))
-                data->margin.left = atoi(p.attribute_values[2][i]);
-            else if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[2][i], "right"))
-                data->margin.right = atoi(p.attribute_values[2][i]);
-
     /* stole text */
     data->text = p.text;
     buffer_init(&p.text);
diff --git a/common/markup.c b/common/markup.c
index 070ab3b6..9de51f68 100644
--- a/common/markup.c
+++ b/common/markup.c
@@ -47,26 +47,12 @@ markup_parse_start_element(GMarkupParseContext *context __attribute__ ((unused))
                            GError **error __attribute__ ((unused)))
 {
     markup_parser_data_t *p = (markup_parser_data_t *) user_data;
-    int i, j;
+    int i;
 
     for(i = 0; p->elements[i]; i++)
-        if(!a_strcmp(element_name, p->elements[i]))
-        {
-            for(j = 0; attribute_names[j]; j++);
-            p->attribute_names[i] = p_new(char *, ++j);
-            p->attribute_values[i] = p_new(char *, j);
-
-            for(j = 0; attribute_names[j]; j++)
-            {
-                p->attribute_names[i][j] = a_strdup(attribute_names[j]);
-                p->attribute_values[i][j] = a_strdup(attribute_values[j]);
-            }
-
-            if(p->elements_sub && p->elements_sub[i])
-            {
-                buffer_add_xmlescaped(&p->text, p->elements_sub[i]);
-            }
-
+        if(!a_strcmp(element_name, p->elements[i])) {
+            (*p->on_element)(p, element_name, attribute_names,
+                             attribute_values);
             return;
         }
 
@@ -134,20 +120,10 @@ markup_parse_text(GMarkupParseContext *context __attribute__ ((unused)),
 /** Create a markup_parser_data_t structure with elements list.
  * \param a pointer to an allocated markup_parser_data_t which must be wiped
  *         with markup_parser_data_wipe()
- * \param elements an array of elements to look for, NULL terminated
- * \param elements_sub an optional array of values to substitude to elements, NULL
- *        terminated, or NULL if not needed
- * \param nelem number of elements in the array (without NULL)
  */
-void
-markup_parser_data_init(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char **elements,
-                        const char **elements_sub, ssize_t nelem)
+void markup_parser_data_init(markup_parser_data_t *p)
 {
     buffer_init(&p->text);
-    p->elements = elements;
-    p->elements_sub = elements_sub;
-    p->attribute_names = p_new(char **, nelem);
-    p->attribute_values = p_new(char **, nelem);
 }
 
 /** Wipe a markup_parser_data_t initialized with markup_parser_data_init.
@@ -156,23 +132,6 @@ markup_parser_data_init(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char **elements,
 void
 markup_parser_data_wipe(markup_parser_data_t *p)
 {
-    int i, j;
-
-    for(i = 0; p->elements[i]; i++)
-        if(p->attribute_names[i])
-        {
-            for(j = 0; p->attribute_names[i][j]; j++)
-            {
-                p_delete(&p->attribute_names[i][j]);
-                p_delete(&p->attribute_values[i][j]);
-            }
-            p_delete(&p->attribute_names[i]);
-            p_delete(&p->attribute_values[i]);
-        }
-
-    p_delete(&p->attribute_names);
-    p_delete(&p->attribute_values);
-
     buffer_wipe(&p->text);
 }
 
diff --git a/common/markup.h b/common/markup.h
index 54a47b69..e14d30c9 100644
--- a/common/markup.h
+++ b/common/markup.h
@@ -24,16 +24,20 @@
 
 #include "common/buffer.h"
 
-typedef struct
+typedef struct markup_parser_data_t markup_parser_data_t;
+
+typedef void (markup_on_elem_f)(markup_parser_data_t *, const char *,
+                                const char **, const char **);
+
+struct markup_parser_data_t
 {
     buffer_t text;
-    const char **elements;
-    const char **elements_sub;
-    char ***attribute_names;
-    char ***attribute_values;
-} markup_parser_data_t;
+    const char * const *elements;
+    markup_on_elem_f *on_element;
+    void *priv;
+};
 
-void markup_parser_data_init(markup_parser_data_t *, const char **, const char **, ssize_t);
+void markup_parser_data_init(markup_parser_data_t *);
 void markup_parser_data_wipe(markup_parser_data_t *);
 bool markup_parse(markup_parser_data_t *data, const char *, ssize_t);
 
diff --git a/widgets/taglist.c b/widgets/taglist.c
index 75af0e75..64df4e72 100644
--- a/widgets/taglist.c
+++ b/widgets/taglist.c
@@ -54,15 +54,27 @@ typedef struct
 
 } taglist_data_t;
 
+static void
+tag_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
+                      const char **names, const char **values)
+{
+    assert (!strcmp(elem, "title"));
+    buffer_add_xmlescaped(&p->text, p->priv);
+}
+
+
 static char *
 tag_markup_parse(tag_t *t, const char *str, ssize_t len)
 {
-    const char *elements[] = { "title", NULL };
-    const char *elements_sub[] = { t->name , NULL };
-    markup_parser_data_t p;
+    static char const * const elements[] = { "title", NULL };
+    markup_parser_data_t p = {
+        .elements   = elements,
+        .on_element = &tag_markup_on_elem,
+        .priv       = t->name,
+    };
     char *ret;
 
-    markup_parser_data_init(&p, elements, elements_sub, countof(elements));
+    markup_parser_data_init(&p);
 
     if(markup_parse(&p, str, len))
         ret = buffer_detach(&p.text);
diff --git a/widgets/tasklist.c b/widgets/tasklist.c
index 3a27c888..3b2873c8 100644
--- a/widgets/tasklist.c
+++ b/widgets/tasklist.c
@@ -63,6 +63,31 @@ tasklist_isvisible(client_t *c, int screen, showclient_t show)
     return false;
 }
 
+struct tasklist_hook_data {
+    draw_context_t *ctx;
+    area_t *area;
+};
+
+static void
+tasklist_markup_on_elem(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
+                        const char **names, const char **values)
+{
+    struct tasklist_hook_data *data = p->priv;
+    draw_context_t *ctx = data->ctx;
+
+    assert (!strcmp(elem, "bg"));
+    for (; *names; names++, values++) {
+        if(!a_strcmp(*names, "color"))
+        {
+            xcolor_t bg_color;
+            xcolor_new(ctx->connection, ctx->phys_screen, *values, &bg_color);
+            draw_rectangle(ctx, *data->area, 1.0, true, bg_color);
+            break;
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+
 static int
 tasklist_draw(draw_context_t *ctx, int screen,
               widget_node_t *w,
@@ -72,11 +97,8 @@ tasklist_draw(draw_context_t *ctx, int screen,
     tasklist_data_t *d = w->widget->data;
     area_t area;
     char *text;
-    int n = 0, i = 0, box_width = 0, icon_width = 0, box_width_rest = 0, j = 0;
+    int n = 0, i = 0, box_width = 0, icon_width = 0, box_width_rest = 0;
     netwm_icon_t *icon;
-    markup_parser_data_t p;
-    const char *elements[] = { "bg", NULL };
-    xcolor_t bg_color;
     draw_image_t *image;
 
     if(used >= ctx->width)
@@ -114,6 +136,14 @@ tasklist_draw(draw_context_t *ctx, int screen,
 
             if(d->show_icons)
             {
+                static char const * const elements[] = { "bg", NULL };
+                struct tasklist_hook_data data = { .ctx = ctx, .area = &area };
+                markup_parser_data_t p = {
+                    .elements   = elements,
+                    .on_element = &tasklist_markup_on_elem,
+                    .priv       = &data,
+                };
+
                 /* draw a background for icons */
                 area.x = w->area.x + box_width * i;
                 area.y = w->area.y;
@@ -122,15 +152,8 @@ tasklist_draw(draw_context_t *ctx, int screen,
 
                 /* Actually look for the proper background color, since
                  * otherwise the background statusbar color is used instead */
-                markup_parser_data_init(&p, elements, NULL, countof(elements));
-                if(markup_parse(&p, text, a_strlen(text)) && p.attribute_names[0])
-                    for(j = 0; p.attribute_names[0][j]; j++)
-                        if(!a_strcmp(p.attribute_names[0][j], "color"))
-                        {
-                            xcolor_new(ctx->connection, ctx->phys_screen, p.attribute_values[0][j], &bg_color);
-                            draw_rectangle(ctx, area, 1.0, true, bg_color);
-                            break;
-                        }
+                markup_parser_data_init(&p);
+                markup_parse(&p, text, a_strlen(text));
                 markup_parser_data_wipe(&p);
 
                 if((image = draw_image_new(c->icon_path)))