diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/index.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/index.js
index 7225bcfc62..55be4dcb81 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/index.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/index.js
@@ -4,8 +4,6 @@
 /** @import { Node } from './types.js' */
 import { dev, locator } from '../../../../state.js';
 import * as b from '../../../../utils/builders.js';
-import { template_to_functions } from './to-functions.js';
-import { template_to_string } from './to-string.js';
 
 /**
  *
@@ -60,8 +58,8 @@ function build_locations(nodes) {
 export function transform_template(state, namespace, flags) {
 	const expression =
 		state.options.templatingMode === 'functional'
-			? template_to_functions(state.template.nodes)
-			: template_to_string(state.template.nodes);
+			? state.template.as_objects()
+			: state.template.as_string();
 
 	let call = b.call(
 		get_template_function(namespace, state),
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/template.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/template.js
index 3a706ee897..e3d64342f4 100644
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/template.js
+++ b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/template.js
@@ -1,5 +1,10 @@
 /** @import { AST } from '#compiler' */
 /** @import { Node, Element } from './types'; */
+import { escape_html } from '../../../../../escaping.js';
+import { is_void } from '../../../../../utils.js';
+import * as b from '#compiler/builders';
+import fix_attribute_casing from './fix-attribute-casing.js';
+import { regex_starts_with_newline } from '../../../patterns.js';
 
 export class Template {
 	/**
@@ -65,4 +70,94 @@ export class Template {
 	set_prop(key, value) {
 		/** @type {Element} */ (this.#element).attributes[key] = value;
 	}
+
+	as_string() {
+		return b.template([b.quasi(this.nodes.map(stringify).join(''), true)], []);
+	}
+
+	as_objects() {
+		// if the first item is a comment we need to add another comment for effect.start
+		if (this.nodes[0].type === 'anchor') {
+			this.nodes.unshift({ type: 'anchor', data: undefined });
+		}
+
+		return b.array(this.nodes.map(objectify));
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * @param {Node} item
+ */
+function stringify(item) {
+	if (item.type === 'text') {
+		return item.nodes.map((node) => node.raw).join('');
+	}
+
+	if (item.type === 'anchor') {
+		return item.data ? `<!--${item.data}-->` : '<!>';
+	}
+
+	let str = `<${item.name}`;
+
+	for (const key in item.attributes) {
+		const value = item.attributes[key];
+
+		str += ` ${key}`;
+		if (value !== undefined) str += `="${escape_html(value, true)}"`;
+	}
+
+	str += `>`;
+	str += item.children.map(stringify).join('');
+
+	if (!is_void(item.name)) {
+		str += `</${item.name}>`;
+	}
+
+	return str;
+}
+
+/** @param {Node} item */
+function objectify(item) {
+	if (item.type === 'text') {
+		return b.literal(item.nodes.map((node) => node.data).join(''));
+	}
+
+	if (item.type === 'anchor') {
+		return item.data ? b.array([b.literal(`// ${item.data}`)]) : null;
+	}
+
+	const element = b.array([b.literal(item.name)]);
+
+	const attributes = b.object([]);
+
+	for (const key in item.attributes) {
+		const value = item.attributes[key];
+
+		attributes.properties.push(
+			b.prop(
+				'init',
+				b.key(fix_attribute_casing(key)),
+				value === undefined ? b.void0 : b.literal(value)
+			)
+		);
+	}
+
+	if (attributes.properties.length > 0 || item.children.length > 0) {
+		element.elements.push(attributes.properties.length > 0 ? attributes : b.null);
+	}
+
+	if (item.children.length > 0) {
+		const children = item.children.map(objectify);
+		element.elements.push(...children);
+
+		// special case — strip leading newline from `<pre>` and `<textarea>`
+		if (item.name === 'pre' || item.name === 'textarea') {
+			const first = children[0];
+			if (first?.type === 'Literal') {
+				first.value = /** @type {string} */ (first.value).replace(regex_starts_with_newline, '');
+			}
+		}
+	}
+
+	return element;
 }
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-functions.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-functions.js
deleted file mode 100644
index b9d1f5d916..0000000000
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-functions.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,62 +0,0 @@
-/** @import { Node } from './types.js' */
-import * as b from '../../../../utils/builders.js';
-import { regex_starts_with_newline } from '../../../patterns.js';
-import fix_attribute_casing from './fix-attribute-casing.js';
-
-/**
- * @param {Node[]} items
- */
-export function template_to_functions(items) {
-	// if the first item is a comment we need to add another comment for effect.start
-	if (items[0].type === 'anchor') {
-		items.unshift({ type: 'anchor', data: undefined });
-	}
-
-	return b.array(items.map(build));
-}
-
-/** @param {Node} item */
-function build(item) {
-	if (item.type === 'text') {
-		return b.literal(item.nodes.map((node) => node.data).join(''));
-	}
-
-	if (item.type === 'anchor') {
-		return item.data ? b.array([b.literal(`// ${item.data}`)]) : null;
-	}
-
-	const element = b.array([b.literal(item.name)]);
-
-	const attributes = b.object([]);
-
-	for (const key in item.attributes) {
-		const value = item.attributes[key];
-
-		attributes.properties.push(
-			b.prop(
-				'init',
-				b.key(fix_attribute_casing(key)),
-				value === undefined ? b.void0 : b.literal(value)
-			)
-		);
-	}
-
-	if (attributes.properties.length > 0 || item.children.length > 0) {
-		element.elements.push(attributes.properties.length > 0 ? attributes : b.null);
-	}
-
-	if (item.children.length > 0) {
-		const children = item.children.map(build);
-		element.elements.push(...children);
-
-		// special case — strip leading newline from `<pre>` and `<textarea>`
-		if (item.name === 'pre' || item.name === 'textarea') {
-			const first = children[0];
-			if (first?.type === 'Literal') {
-				first.value = /** @type {string} */ (first.value).replace(regex_starts_with_newline, '');
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
-	return element;
-}
diff --git a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-string.js b/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-string.js
deleted file mode 100644
index cdd57f44fe..0000000000
--- a/packages/svelte/src/compiler/phases/3-transform/client/transform-template/to-string.js
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,42 +0,0 @@
-/** @import { Node } from './types.js' */
-import { escape_html } from '../../../../../escaping.js';
-import { is_void } from '../../../../../utils.js';
-import * as b from '../../../../utils/builders.js';
-
-/**
- * @param {Node[]} items
- */
-export function template_to_string(items) {
-	return b.template([b.quasi(items.map(stringify).join(''), true)], []);
-}
-
-/**
- * @param {Node} node
- */
-function stringify(node) {
-	if (node.type === 'text') {
-		return node.nodes.map((node) => node.raw).join('');
-	}
-
-	if (node.type === 'anchor') {
-		return node.data ? `<!--${node.data}-->` : '<!>';
-	}
-
-	let str = `<${node.name}`;
-
-	for (const key in node.attributes) {
-		const value = node.attributes[key];
-
-		str += ` ${key}`;
-		if (value !== undefined) str += `="${escape_html(value, true)}"`;
-	}
-
-	str += `>`;
-	str += node.children.map(stringify).join('');
-
-	if (!is_void(node.name)) {
-		str += `</${node.name}>`;
-	}
-
-	return str;
-}