diff --git a/taglibs/core/TagHandlerNode.js b/taglibs/core/TagHandlerNode.js
index c290f29a9..76bd6250a 100644
--- a/taglibs/core/TagHandlerNode.js
+++ b/taglibs/core/TagHandlerNode.js
@@ -18,12 +18,13 @@ var extend = require('raptor-util').extend;
 var forEachEntry = require('raptor-util').forEachEntry;
 var stringify = require('raptor-json/stringify');
 var isObjectEmpty = require('raptor-util/isObjectEmpty');
+var requireVarName = require('./requireVarName');
 
 function addHandlerVar(template, renderer) {
     var handlerVars = template._handlerVars || (template._handlerVars = {});
     var handlerVar = handlerVars[renderer];
     if (!handlerVar) {
-        handlerVar = renderer.replace(/[.\-\/\\]/g, '_').replace(/^[_]+/g, '');
+        handlerVar = requireVarName(renderer, template.dirname);
         handlerVar = template.addStaticVar(handlerVar, '__renderer(require(' + stringify(renderer) + '))');
         handlerVars[renderer] = handlerVar;
     }
diff --git a/taglibs/core/package.json b/taglibs/core/package.json
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..f72768791
--- /dev/null
+++ b/taglibs/core/package.json
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+{
+    "browser": {
+        "./requireVarName.js": "./requireVarName-browser.js"
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/taglibs/core/requireVarName-browser.js b/taglibs/core/requireVarName-browser.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..e9a46b6da
--- /dev/null
+++ b/taglibs/core/requireVarName-browser.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module.exports = function(target, from) {
+    return target;
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/taglibs/core/requireVarName.js b/taglibs/core/requireVarName.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d55f723b2
--- /dev/null
+++ b/taglibs/core/requireVarName.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+var resolveFrom = require('resolve-from');
+var nodePath = require('path');
+
+module.exports = function(target, from) {
+    var resolved = resolveFrom(from, target);
+    resolved = nodePath.relative(from, resolved);
+    return resolved;
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/index.js b/test/fixtures/index.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..7fe36d050
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/index.js
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+module.exports = function(input, out) {
+    out.write('root-renderer: Hello ' + input.name + '!');
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/marko-taglib.json b/test/fixtures/marko-taglib.json
index ce59b03be..e980348f2 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/marko-taglib.json
+++ b/test/fixtures/marko-taglib.json
@@ -96,6 +96,12 @@
         },
         "test-template-tag-dynamic-attributes": {
             "template": "./taglib/hello.marko"
+        },
+        "test-root-renderer": {
+            "renderer": "./",
+            "attributes": {
+                "name": "string"
+            }
         }
     },
     "tags-dir": "./taglib/scanned-tags",
diff --git a/test/fixtures/templates/compiler/custom-tag/expected.js b/test/fixtures/templates/compiler/custom-tag/expected.js
index 56009604c..976094499 100644
--- a/test/fixtures/templates/compiler/custom-tag/expected.js
+++ b/test/fixtures/templates/compiler/custom-tag/expected.js
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@ exports.create = function(__helpers) {
       empty = __helpers.e,
       notEmpty = __helpers.ne,
       __renderer = __helpers.r,
-      taglib_hello_renderer = __renderer(require("../../../taglib/hello-renderer")),
+      _________taglib_hello_renderer_js = __renderer(require("../../../taglib/hello-renderer")),
       __tag = __helpers.t;
 
   return function render(data, out) {
     __tag(out,
-      taglib_hello_renderer,
+      _________taglib_hello_renderer_js,
       {
         "name": "World"
       });
diff --git a/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/expected.html b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/expected.html
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..70c7cda46
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/expected.html
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+root-renderer: Hello Frank!
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/template.marko b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/template.marko
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..067660ba4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/template.marko
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+<test-root-renderer name="Frank"/>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/test.js b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/test.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c4013b344
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/templates/root-renderer/test.js
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+exports.templateData = {};