diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index bee5b61..18f3429 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
             .optimize = optimize,
             .zmpl_templates_paths = templates_paths,
             .zmpl_auto_build = false,
+            .zmpl_markdown_fragments = try generateMarkdownFragments(b),
             .zmpl_constants = try zmpl_build.addTemplateConstants(b, struct {
                 jetzig_view: []const u8,
                 jetzig_action: []const u8,
@@ -55,13 +56,13 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const zmpl_module = zmpl_dep.module("zmpl");
 
     const jetkv_dep = b.dependency("jetkv", .{ .target = target, .optimize = optimize });
+    const zmd_dep = b.dependency("zmd", .{ .target = target, .optimize = optimize });
 
     // This is the way to make it look nice in the zig build script
     // If we would do it the other way around, we would have to do
     // b.dependency("jetzig",.{}).builder.dependency("zmpl",.{}).module("zmpl");
     b.modules.put("zmpl", zmpl_dep.module("zmpl")) catch @panic("Out of memory");
-
-    const zmd_dep = b.dependency("zmd", .{ .target = target, .optimize = optimize });
+    b.modules.put("zmd", zmd_dep.module("zmd")) catch @panic("Out of memory");
 
     const smtp_client_dep = b.dependency("smtp_client", .{
         .target = target,
@@ -117,9 +118,11 @@ pub fn jetzigInit(b: *std.Build, exe: *std.Build.Step.Compile, options: JetzigIn
     );
     const jetzig_module = jetzig_dep.module("jetzig");
     const zmpl_module = jetzig_dep.module("zmpl");
+    const zmd_module = jetzig_dep.module("zmd");
 
     exe.root_module.addImport("jetzig", jetzig_module);
     exe.root_module.addImport("zmpl", zmpl_module);
+    exe.root_module.addImport("zmd", zmd_module);
 
     if (b.option(bool, "jetzig_runner", "Used internally by `jetzig server` command.")) |jetzig_runner| {
         if (jetzig_runner) {
@@ -204,3 +207,45 @@ pub fn jetzigInit(b: *std.Build, exe: *std.Build.Step.Compile, options: JetzigIn
     run_static_routes_cmd.expectExitCode(0);
     exe.step.dependOn(&run_static_routes_cmd.step);
 }
+
+fn generateMarkdownFragments(b: *std.Build) ![]const u8 {
+    const file = std.fs.cwd().openFile(b.pathJoin(&.{ "src", "main.zig" }), .{}) catch |err| {
+        switch (err) {
+            error.FileNotFound => return "",
+            else => return err,
+        }
+    };
+    const stat = try file.stat();
+    const source = try file.readToEndAllocOptions(b.allocator, stat.size, null, @alignOf(u8), 0);
+    if (try getMarkdownFragmentsSource(b.allocator, source)) |markdown_fragments_source| {
+        return try std.fmt.allocPrint(b.allocator,
+            \\const std = @import("std");
+            \\const zmd = @import("zmd");
+            \\
+            \\{s};
+            \\
+        , .{markdown_fragments_source});
+    } else {
+        return "";
+    }
+}
+
+fn getMarkdownFragmentsSource(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, source: [:0]const u8) !?[]const u8 {
+    var ast = try std.zig.Ast.parse(allocator, source, .zig);
+    defer ast.deinit(allocator);
+
+    for (ast.nodes.items(.tag), 0..) |tag, index| {
+        switch (tag) {
+            .simple_var_decl => {
+                const decl = ast.simpleVarDecl(@intCast(index));
+                const identifier = ast.tokenSlice(decl.ast.mut_token + 1);
+                if (std.mem.eql(u8, identifier, "markdown_fragments")) {
+                    return ast.getNodeSource(@intCast(index));
+                }
+            },
+            else => continue,
+        }
+    }
+
+    return null;
+}
diff --git a/build.zig.zon b/build.zig.zon
index 4bcec26..ebf6b63 100644
--- a/build.zig.zon
+++ b/build.zig.zon
@@ -3,12 +3,12 @@
     .version = "0.0.0",
     .dependencies = .{
         .zmd = .{
-            .url = "https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmd/archive/901e4ce55cdbfd82c42cfd4feb3a1682dab4b418.tar.gz",
-            .hash = "12207d49df326e0c180a90fa65d9993898e0a0ffd8e79616b4b81f81769261858856",
+            .url = "https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmd/archive/45a9ff0e3a55b4758163abad5a601bd3ef8127a8.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "122067a3107499e4b561a883a9f1e9f39662c4b87249a2e4e630279bd91ab7840230",
         },
         .zmpl = .{
-            .url = "https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmpl/archive/4511ae706e8679385d38cc1366497082f8f53afb.tar.gz",
-            .hash = "1220d493e6fdfaccbafff41df2b7b407728ed11619bebb198c90dae9420f03a6d29d",
+            .url = "https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmpl/archive/9712b85e61f33879f388d5e1829856e326c53822.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "1220b185cf8316ae5ad6dd7d45bea278575391986b7d8233a9d9b2c342e339d65ac0",
         },
         .args = .{
             .url = "https://github.com/MasterQ32/zig-args/archive/01d72b9a0128c474aeeb9019edd48605fa6d95f7.tar.gz",
diff --git a/demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md b/demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md.zmpl
similarity index 83%
rename from demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md
rename to demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md.zmpl
index 1ab7e18..5efae1d 100644
--- a/demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md
+++ b/demo/src/app/views/markdown/index.md.zmpl
@@ -2,11 +2,11 @@
 
 ![jetzig logo](https://www.jetzig.dev/jetzig.png)
 
-_Markdown_ is rendered by _[zmd](https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmd)_.
+_Markdown_ is rendered by [zmd](https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmd).
 
 You can use a `StaticRequest` in your view if you prefer to render your _Markdown_ at build time, or use `Request` in development to render at run time without a server restart.
 
-Simply create a `.md` file instead of a `.zmpl` file, e.g. `src/app/views/iguanas/index.md` and _Markdown_ will be rendered.
+Simply create a `.md.zmpl` file instead of a `.zmpl` file, e.g. `src/app/views/iguanas/index.md.zmpl` and _Markdown_ will be rendered. You can still use _Zmpl_ references, modes, and partials. In fact, a `.md.zmpl` template is simply a regular _Zmpl_ template with the root mode set to `markdown`.
 
 ## An _ordered_ list
 
diff --git a/demo/src/app/views/root/index.zmpl b/demo/src/app/views/root/index.zmpl
index 1fb1e42..f5fc30b 100644
--- a/demo/src/app/views/root/index.zmpl
+++ b/demo/src/app/views/root/index.zmpl
@@ -16,3 +16,9 @@
   <div>Take a look at the <span class="font-mono">/demo/src/app/</span> directory to see how this application works.</div>
   <div>Visit <a class="font-bold text-[#39b54a]" href="https://jetzig.dev/">jetzig.dev</a> to get started.</div>
 </div>
+
+@markdown {
+  # Hello
+
+  [foobar](https://www.google.com)
+}
diff --git a/demo/src/main.zig b/demo/src/main.zig
index 943e849..702b519 100644
--- a/demo/src/main.zig
+++ b/demo/src/main.zig
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
-pub const jetzig = @import("jetzig");
+const jetzig = @import("jetzig");
+const zmd = @import("zmd");
 
 pub const routes = @import("routes");
 
@@ -54,14 +55,14 @@ pub const jetzig_options = struct {
     // pub const force_development_email_delivery = false;
 
     // Set custom fragments for rendering markdown templates. Any values will fall back to
-    // defaults provided by Zmd (https://github.com/bobf/zmd/blob/main/src/zmd/html.zig).
+    // defaults provided by Zmd (https://github.com/jetzig-framework/zmd/blob/main/src/zmd/html.zig).
     pub const markdown_fragments = struct {
         pub const root = .{
             "<div class='p-5'>",
             "</div>",
         };
         pub const h1 = .{
-            "<h1 class='text-2xl mb-3 font-bold'>",
+            "<h1 class='text-2xl mb-3 text-green font-bold'>",
             "</h1>",
         };
         pub const h2 = .{
@@ -91,13 +92,13 @@ pub const jetzig_options = struct {
             "</ul>",
         };
 
-        pub fn block(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, node: jetzig.zmd.Node) ![]const u8 {
+        pub fn block(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, node: zmd.Node) ![]const u8 {
             return try std.fmt.allocPrint(allocator,
                 \\<pre class="w-1/2 font-mono mt-4 ms-3 bg-gray-900 p-2 text-white"><code class="language-{?s}">{s}</code></pre>
             , .{ node.meta, node.content });
         }
 
-        pub fn link(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, node: jetzig.zmd.Node) ![]const u8 {
+        pub fn link(allocator: std.mem.Allocator, node: zmd.Node) ![]const u8 {
             return try std.fmt.allocPrint(allocator,
                 \\<a class="underline decoration-sky-500" href="{0s}" title={1s}>{1s}</a>
             , .{ node.href.?, node.title.? });
diff --git a/src/compile_static_routes.zig b/src/compile_static_routes.zig
index 99e7c86..70197c0 100644
--- a/src/compile_static_routes.zig
+++ b/src/compile_static_routes.zig
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ fn renderZmplTemplate(
             defer allocator.free(prefixed_name);
 
             if (zmpl.findPrefixed("views", prefixed_name)) |layout| {
-                return try template.renderWithLayout(layout, view.data);
+                return try template.renderWithOptions(view.data, .{ .layout = layout });
             } else {
                 std.debug.print("Unknown layout: {s}\n", .{layout_name});
                 return try allocator.dupe(u8, "");
diff --git a/src/jetzig/http/Server.zig b/src/jetzig/http/Server.zig
index c0c979d..1c98d19 100644
--- a/src/jetzig/http/Server.zig
+++ b/src/jetzig/http/Server.zig
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const std = @import("std");
 
 const jetzig = @import("../../jetzig.zig");
 const zmpl = @import("zmpl");
+const zmd = @import("zmd");
 
 pub const ServerOptions = struct {
     logger: jetzig.loggers.Logger,
@@ -153,27 +154,22 @@ fn renderHTML(
     route: ?*jetzig.views.Route,
 ) !void {
     if (route) |matched_route| {
-        const template = zmpl.findPrefixed("views", matched_route.template);
-        if (template == null) {
-            request.response_data.noop(bool, false); // FIXME: Weird Zig bug ? Any call here fixes it.
-            if (try self.renderMarkdown(request, route)) |rendered_markdown| {
-                return request.setResponse(rendered_markdown, .{});
-            }
-        }
-        const rendered = self.renderView(matched_route, request, template) catch |err| {
-            if (isUnhandledError(err)) return err;
-            const rendered_error = try self.renderInternalServerError(request, err);
-            return request.setResponse(rendered_error, .{});
-        };
-        if (request.status_code != .not_found) {
+        if (zmpl.findPrefixed("views", matched_route.template)) |template| {
+            const rendered = self.renderView(matched_route, request, template) catch |err| {
+                if (isUnhandledError(err)) return err;
+                const rendered_error = try self.renderInternalServerError(request, err);
+                return request.setResponse(rendered_error, .{});
+            };
             return request.setResponse(rendered, .{});
+        } else {
+            return request.setResponse(try renderNotFound(request), .{});
         }
-    }
-
-    if (try self.renderMarkdown(request, route)) |rendered| {
-        return request.setResponse(rendered, .{});
     } else {
-        return request.setResponse(try renderNotFound(request), .{});
+        if (try self.renderMarkdown(request)) |rendered| {
+            return request.setResponse(rendered, .{});
+        } else {
+            return request.setResponse(try renderNotFound(request), .{});
+        }
     }
 }
 
@@ -199,57 +195,18 @@ fn renderJSON(
     }
 }
 
-fn renderMarkdown(
-    self: *Server,
-    request: *jetzig.http.Request,
-    maybe_route: ?*jetzig.views.Route,
-) !?RenderedView {
-    const route = maybe_route orelse {
-        // No route recognized, but we can still render a static markdown file if it matches the URI:
-        if (request.method != .GET) return null;
-        if (try jetzig.markdown.render(request.allocator, request.path.base_path, null)) |content| {
-            return .{
-                .view = jetzig.views.View{ .data = request.response_data, .status_code = .ok },
-                .content = content,
-            };
-        } else {
-            return null;
-        }
-    };
-
-    const path = try std.mem.join(
-        request.allocator,
-        "/",
-        &[_][]const u8{ route.uri_path, @tagName(route.action) },
-    );
-    const markdown_content = try jetzig.markdown.render(request.allocator, path, null) orelse
+fn renderMarkdown(self: *Server, request: *jetzig.http.Request) !?RenderedView {
+    _ = self;
+    // No route recognized, but we can still render a static markdown file if it matches the URI:
+    if (request.method != .GET) return null;
+    if (try jetzig.markdown.render(request.allocator, request.path.base_path, null)) |content| {
+        return .{
+            .view = jetzig.views.View{ .data = request.response_data, .status_code = .ok },
+            .content = content,
+        };
+    } else {
         return null;
-
-    var rendered = self.renderView(route, request, null) catch |err| {
-        if (isUnhandledError(err)) return err;
-        return try self.renderInternalServerError(request, err);
-    };
-
-    try addTemplateConstants(rendered.view, route);
-
-    if (request.getLayout(route)) |layout_name| {
-        // TODO: Allow user to configure layouts directory other than src/app/views/layouts/
-        const prefixed_name = try std.mem.concat(
-            self.allocator,
-            u8,
-            &[_][]const u8{ "layouts_", layout_name },
-        );
-        defer self.allocator.free(prefixed_name);
-
-        if (zmpl.findPrefixed("views", prefixed_name)) |layout| {
-            rendered.view.data.content = .{ .data = markdown_content };
-            rendered.content = try layout.render(rendered.view.data);
-        } else {
-            try self.logger.WARN("Unknown layout: {s}", .{layout_name});
-            rendered.content = markdown_content;
-        }
     }
-    return rendered;
 }
 
 pub const RenderedView = struct { view: jetzig.views.View, content: []const u8 };
@@ -260,7 +217,7 @@ fn renderView(
     request: *jetzig.http.Request,
     template: ?zmpl.Template,
 ) !RenderedView {
-    // View functions return a `View` to help encourage users to return from a view function with
+    // View functions return a `View` to encourage users to return from a view function with
     // `return request.render(.ok)`, but the actual rendered view is stored in
     // `request.rendered_view`.
     _ = route.render(route.*, request) catch |err| {
@@ -307,11 +264,15 @@ fn renderTemplateWithLayout(
 
     if (request.getLayout(route)) |layout_name| {
         // TODO: Allow user to configure layouts directory other than src/app/views/layouts/
-        const prefixed_name = try std.mem.concat(self.allocator, u8, &[_][]const u8{ "layouts", "/", layout_name });
+        const prefixed_name = try std.mem.concat(
+            self.allocator,
+            u8,
+            &[_][]const u8{ "layouts", "/", layout_name },
+        );
         defer self.allocator.free(prefixed_name);
 
         if (zmpl.findPrefixed("views", prefixed_name)) |layout| {
-            return try template.renderWithLayout(layout, view.data);
+            return try template.renderWithOptions(view.data, .{ .layout = layout });
         } else {
             try self.logger.WARN("Unknown layout: {s}", .{layout_name});
             return try template.render(view.data);
diff --git a/src/jetzig/markdown.zig b/src/jetzig/markdown.zig
index 1e92410..d02ac86 100644
--- a/src/jetzig/markdown.zig
+++ b/src/jetzig/markdown.zig
@@ -1,8 +1,9 @@
 const std = @import("std");
 
+const Zmd = @import("zmd").Zmd;
+
 const jetzig = @import("../jetzig.zig");
 
-const Zmd = @import("zmd").Zmd;
 pub fn render(
     allocator: std.mem.Allocator,
     path: []const u8,