diff --git a/tailbone/forms/core.py b/tailbone/forms/core.py
index 496d59ee..f4fa79e4 100644
--- a/tailbone/forms/core.py
+++ b/tailbone/forms/core.py
@@ -1093,15 +1093,23 @@ class Form(object):
                 label_contents.append(HTML.literal('   '))
                 label_contents.append(icon)
 
-            # nb. must apply hack to get <template #label> as final result
-            label_template = HTML.tag('template', c=label_contents,
-                                      **{'#label': 1})
-            label_template = label_template.replace(
-                HTML.literal('<template #label="1"'),
-                HTML.literal('<template #label'))
+            # only declare label template if it's complex
+            html = [html]
+            if len(label_contents) > 1:
+
+                # nb. must apply hack to get <template #label> as final result
+                label_template = HTML.tag('template', c=label_contents,
+                                          **{'#label': 1})
+                label_template = label_template.replace(
+                    HTML.literal('<template #label="1"'),
+                    HTML.literal('<template #label'))
+                html.insert(0, label_template)
+
+            else: # simple label
+                attrs['label'] = label
 
             # and finally wrap it all in a <b-field>
-            return HTML.tag('b-field', c=[label_template, html], **attrs)
+            return HTML.tag('b-field', c=html, **attrs)
 
         elif field: # hidden field