diff --git a/docs/mithril.md b/docs/mithril.md
index 16c9ebd8..32a2d820 100644
--- a/docs/mithril.md
+++ b/docs/mithril.md
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 - [Accessing the real DOM element](#accessing-the-real-dom-element)
 - [Persisting config data](#persisting-config-data)
 - [Destructors](#destructors)
+- [Persising DOM elements across route changes](#persising-dom-elements-across-route-changes)
 - [SVG](#svg)
 - [Dealing with focus](#dealing-with-focus)
 - [Dealing with sorting and deleting in lists](#dealing-with-sorting-and-deleting-in-lists)
@@ -342,6 +343,67 @@ m.render(document, m("a")); //logs `unloaded the div` and `alert` never gets cal
 
 ---
 
+#### Persising DOM elements across route changes
+
+When using the [router](mithril.route.md), a route change recreates the DOM tree from scratch in order to unload plugins from the previous page. If you want to keep a DOM element intact across a route change, you can set the `retain` flag in the config's context object.
+
+In the example below, there are two routes, each of which loads a module when a user navigates to their respective URLs. Both modules use a `menu` template, which contains links for navigation between the two modules, and an expensive-to-reinitialize element. Setting `context.retain = true` in the element's config function allows the span to stay intact after a route change.
+
+```javascript
+//a menu template
+var menu = function() {
+	return m("div", [
+		m("a[href='/']", {config: m.route}, "Home"),
+		m("a[href='/contact']", {config: m.route}, "Contact"),
+		//an expensive-to-initialize DOM element
+		m("span", {config: persistent})
+	])
+}
+//a configuration that persists across route changes
+function persistent(el, isInit, context) {
+	context.retain = true
+	
+	if (!isInit) {
+		//only runs once, even if you move back and forth between `/` and `/contact`
+		doSomethingExpensive(el)
+	}
+}
+
+//modules that use the menu above
+var Home = {
+	controller: function() {},
+	view: function() {
+		return [
+			menu(),
+			m("h1", "Home")
+		]
+	}
+}
+var Contact = {
+	view: function() {
+		return [
+			menu(),
+			m("h2", "Contact")
+		]
+	}
+}
+
+m.route(document.body, "/", {
+	"/": Home,
+	"/contact": Contact
+})
+```
+
+Note that even if you set `context.retain = true`, the element will still be destroyed and recreated if it is different enough from the existing element. An element is considered "different enough" if:
+
+- the tag name changes, or
+- the list of HTML attributes changes, or
+- the value of the element's id attribute changes
+
+In addition, setting `context.retain = false` will also cause the element to be recreated, even if it is not considered different enough.
+
+---
+
 #### SVG
 
 You can use Mithril to create SVG documents (as long as you don't need to support browsers that don't support SVG natively).
diff --git a/mithril.js b/mithril.js
index 1d7cb5af..01a59004 100644
--- a/mithril.js
+++ b/mithril.js
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 					len = data.length
 				}
 			}
-
+			
 			var nodes = [], intact = cached.length === data.length, subArrayCount = 0;
 
 			//keys algorithm: sort elements without recreating them if keys are present
@@ -245,7 +245,7 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 			var dataAttrKeys = Object.keys(data.attrs)
 			var hasKeys = dataAttrKeys.length > ("key" in data.attrs ? 1 : 0)
 			//if an element is different enough from the one in cache, recreate it
-			if (data.tag != cached.tag || dataAttrKeys.join() != Object.keys(cached.attrs).join() || data.attrs.id != cached.attrs.id || data.attrs.key != cached.attrs.key) {
+			if (data.tag != cached.tag || dataAttrKeys.join() != Object.keys(cached.attrs).join() || data.attrs.id != cached.attrs.id || data.attrs.key != cached.attrs.key || (m.redraw.strategy() == "all" && cached.configContext && cached.configContext.retain !== true) || (m.redraw.strategy() == "diff" && cached.configContext && cached.configContext.retain === false)) {
 				if (cached.nodes.length) clear(cached.nodes);
 				if (cached.configContext && typeof cached.configContext.onunload === FUNCTION) cached.configContext.onunload()
 				if (cached.controller && typeof cached.controller.onunload === FUNCTION) cached.controller.onunload({preventDefault: function() {}})
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 			}
 			//schedule configs to be called. They are called after `build` finishes running
 			if (typeof data.attrs["config"] === FUNCTION) {
-				var context = cached.configContext = cached.configContext || {};
+				var context = cached.configContext = cached.configContext || {retain: m.redraw.strategy() == "diff"};
 
 				// bind
 				var callback = function(data, args) {
@@ -410,7 +410,10 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 		if (nodes.length != 0) nodes.length = 0
 	}
 	function unload(cached) {
-		if (cached.configContext && typeof cached.configContext.onunload === FUNCTION) cached.configContext.onunload();
+		if (cached.configContext && typeof cached.configContext.onunload === FUNCTION) {
+			cached.configContext.onunload();
+			cached.configContext.onunload = null
+		}
 		if (cached.controller && typeof cached.controller.onunload === FUNCTION) cached.controller.onunload({preventDefault: function() {}});
 		if (cached.children) {
 			if (type.call(cached.children) === ARRAY) {
@@ -590,11 +593,10 @@ var m = (function app(window, undefined) {
 	m.redraw.strategy = m.prop();
 	var blank = function() {return ""}
 	function redraw() {
-		var forceRedraw = m.redraw.strategy() === "all";
 		for (var i = 0, root; root = roots[i]; i++) {
 			if (controllers[i]) {
 				var args = modules[i].controller && modules[i].controller.$$args ? [controllers[i]].concat(modules[i].controller.$$args) : [controllers[i]]
-				m.render(root, modules[i].view ? modules[i].view(controllers[i], args) : blank(), forceRedraw)
+				m.render(root, modules[i].view ? modules[i].view(controllers[i], args) : blank())
 			}
 		}
 		//after rendering within a routed context, we need to scroll back to the top, and fetch the document title for history.pushState
diff --git a/tests/mithril-tests.js b/tests/mithril-tests.js
index 2bc85452..10e37c9e 100644
--- a/tests/mithril-tests.js
+++ b/tests/mithril-tests.js
@@ -476,6 +476,19 @@ function testMithril(mock) {
 
 		return count === 3
 	})
+	test(function() {
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var module = {}, unloaded = false
+		module.controller = function() {
+			this.onunload = function() {unloaded = true}
+		}
+		module.view = function() {}
+		m.module(root, module)
+		m.module(root, {controller: function() {}, view: function() {}})
+		
+		return unloaded === true
+	})
+	m.redraw.strategy(undefined) //teardown for m.module tests
 	
 	//m.withAttr
 	test(function() {
@@ -790,17 +803,6 @@ function testMithril(mock) {
 		var valueAfter = root.childNodes[0].style.background
 		return valueBefore === "red" && valueAfter === undefined
 	})
-	test(function() {
-		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
-		var module = {}, unloaded = false
-		module.controller = function() {
-			this.onunload = function() {unloaded = true}
-		}
-		module.view = function() {}
-		m.module(root, module)
-		m.module(root, {controller: function() {}, view: function() {}})
-		return unloaded === true
-	})
 	test(function() {
 		//https://github.com/lhorie/mithril.js/issues/87
 		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
@@ -880,7 +882,7 @@ function testMithril(mock) {
 	})
 	test(function() {
 		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
-
+		
 		var success = false
 		m.render(root, m("div", {config: function(elem, isInitialized, ctx) {ctx.data = 1}}))
 		m.render(root, m("div", {config: function(elem, isInitialized, ctx) {success = ctx.data === 1}}))
@@ -1765,7 +1767,7 @@ function testMithril(mock) {
 	test(function() {
 		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve() //setup
 		mock.location.search = "?"
-
+		
 		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
 		var unloaded = 0
 		m.route.mode = "search"
@@ -2137,6 +2139,456 @@ function testMithril(mock) {
 		
 		return mock.history.$$length == 0
 	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var value
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				value = ctx.retain
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a
+		})
+		
+		return value === false
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var value
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				value = ctx.retain
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a
+		})
+		
+		return value === true
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}})
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = a.view
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = true
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				ctx.retain = false
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 2
+	})
+	test(function() {
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		mock.location.search = "?"
+		
+		var root = mock.document.createElement("div")
+		var initCount = 0
+		
+		var a = {}
+		a.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		a.view = function() {
+			return m("div", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+		
+		var b = {}
+		b.controller = function() {m.redraw.strategy("diff")}
+		b.view = function() {
+			return m("section", m("a", {config: function(el, init, ctx) {
+				if (!init) initCount++
+			}}))
+		}
+
+		m.route(root, "/a", {
+			"/a": a,
+			"/b": b,
+		})
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		m.route("/b")
+		
+		mock.requestAnimationFrame.$resolve()
+		
+		return initCount == 1
+	})
 	//end m.route
 
 	//m.prop