diff --git a/lib/saxes.js b/lib/saxes.js
index abbe4988..c191af10 100644
--- a/lib/saxes.js
+++ b/lib/saxes.js
@@ -292,16 +292,12 @@ class SaxesParser {
    * @private
    */
   _init(opt) {
-    this.comment = "";
     this.openWakaBang = "";
     this.text = "";
     this.name = "";
     this.piTarget = "";
-    this.piBody = "";
     this.entity = "";
-    this.cdata = "";
     this.xmlDeclName = "";
-    this.xmlDeclValue = "";
 
     /**
      * The options passed to the constructor of this parser.
@@ -795,12 +791,12 @@ class SaxesParser {
   /**
    * @private
    */
-  handleEOL(buffer, chunk, start) {
+  handleEOL(chunk, start) {
     if (this.originalNL) {
       return start;
     }
 
-    this[buffer] += `${chunk.slice(start, this.prevI)}\n`;
+    this.text += `${chunk.slice(start, this.prevI)}\n`;
     return this.i;
   }
 
@@ -813,28 +809,26 @@ class SaxesParser {
    * @param {number[]} chars An array of codepoints. Encountering a character in
    * the array ends the capture.
    *
-   * @param {string} buffer The name of the buffer to save into.
-   *
    * @return {number|undefined} The character code that made the capture end, or
    * ``undefined`` if we hit the end of the chunk.
    */
-  captureTo(chars, buffer) {
+  captureTo(chars) {
     let { i: start } = this;
     const { chunk } = this;
     while (true) {
       const c = this.getCode();
       switch (c) {
       case NL:
-        start = this.handleEOL(buffer, chunk, start);
+        start = this.handleEOL(chunk, start);
         break;
       case EOC:
-        this[buffer] += chunk.slice(start);
+        this.text += chunk.slice(start);
         return EOC;
       default:
       }
 
       if (chars.includes(c)) {
-        this[buffer] += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
+        this.text += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
         return c;
       }
     }
@@ -847,28 +841,26 @@ class SaxesParser {
    *
    * @param {number} char The codepoint that ends the capture.
    *
-   * @param {string} buffer The name of the buffer to save into.
-   *
    * @return {boolean} ``true`` if we ran into the character. Otherwise, we ran
    * into the end of the current chunk.
    */
-  captureToChar(char, buffer) {
+  captureToChar(char) {
     let { i: start } = this;
     const { chunk } = this;
     while (true) {
       const c = this.getCode();
       switch (c) {
       case NL:
-        start = this.handleEOL(buffer, chunk, start);
+        start = this.handleEOL(chunk, start);
         break;
       case EOC:
-        this[buffer] += chunk.slice(start);
+        this.text += chunk.slice(start);
         return false;
       default:
       }
 
       if (c === char) {
-        this[buffer] += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
+        this.text += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
         return true;
       }
     }
@@ -999,6 +991,9 @@ class SaxesParser {
     switch (c) {
     case LESS:
       this.state = S_OPEN_WAKA;
+      if (this.text.length !== 0) {
+        this.closeText();
+      }
       break;
     case EOC:
       break;
@@ -1057,6 +1052,9 @@ class SaxesParser {
       case LESS:
         this.state = S_OPEN_WAKA;
         this.text += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
+        if (this.text.length !== 0) {
+          this.closeText();
+        }
         forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
         break scanLoop;
@@ -1088,7 +1086,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
         forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
         break;
       case NL:
-        start = this.handleEOL("text", chunk, start);
+        start = this.handleEOL(chunk, start);
         forbiddenState = FORBIDDEN_START;
         break;
       case EOC:
@@ -1119,6 +1117,9 @@ class SaxesParser {
       case LESS:
         this.state = S_OPEN_WAKA;
         this.text += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
+        if (this.text.length !== 0) {
+          this.closeText();
+        }
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
         break outRootLoop;
       case AMP:
@@ -1129,7 +1130,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
         break outRootLoop;
       case NL:
-        start = this.handleEOL("text", chunk, start);
+        start = this.handleEOL(chunk, start);
         // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
         break;
       case EOC:
@@ -1168,9 +1169,6 @@ class SaxesParser {
     // a state handler cannot return ``undefined``. That's why we don't test
     // for it.
     const c = this.getCode();
-    if (this.text.length !== 0) {
-      this.closeText();
-    }
     // either a /, ?, !, or text is coming next.
     if (isNameStartChar(c)) {
       this.state = S_OPEN_TAG;
@@ -1238,7 +1236,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sDoctype() {
-    const c = this.captureTo(DOCTYPE_TERMINATOR, "text");
+    const c = this.captureTo(DOCTYPE_TERMINATOR);
     switch (c) {
     case GREATER:
       this.ondoctype(this.text);
@@ -1263,7 +1261,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
   /** @private */
   sDoctypeQuote() {
     const { q } = this;
-    if (this.captureToChar(q, "text")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(q)) {
       this.text += String.fromCodePoint(q);
       this.q = null;
       this.state = S_DOCTYPE;
@@ -1272,7 +1270,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sDTD() {
-    const c = this.captureTo(DTD_TERMINATOR, "text");
+    const c = this.captureTo(DTD_TERMINATOR);
     if (c === EOC) {
       return;
     }
@@ -1293,7 +1291,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
   /** @private */
   sDTDQuoted() {
     const { q } = this;
-    if (this.captureToChar(q, "text")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(q)) {
       this.text += String.fromCodePoint(q);
       this.state = S_DTD;
       this.q = null;
@@ -1330,7 +1328,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sDTDComment() {
-    if (this.captureToChar(MINUS, "text")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(MINUS)) {
       this.text += "-";
       this.state = S_DTD_COMMENT_ENDING;
     }
@@ -1360,7 +1358,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sDTDPI() {
-    if (this.captureToChar(QUESTION, "text")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(QUESTION)) {
       this.text += "?";
       this.state = S_DTD_PI_ENDING;
     }
@@ -1377,7 +1375,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sComment() {
-    if (this.captureToChar(MINUS, "comment")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(MINUS)) {
       this.state = S_COMMENT_ENDING;
     }
   }
@@ -1387,11 +1385,11 @@ class SaxesParser {
     const c = this.getCode();
     if (c === MINUS) {
       this.state = S_COMMENT_ENDED;
-      this.oncomment(this.comment);
-      this.comment = "";
+      this.oncomment(this.text);
+      this.text = "";
     }
     else {
-      this.comment += `-${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
+      this.text += `-${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
       this.state = S_COMMENT;
     }
   }
@@ -1403,7 +1401,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
       this.fail("malformed comment.");
       // <!-- blah -- bloo --> will be recorded as
       // a comment of " blah -- bloo "
-      this.comment += `--${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
+      this.text += `--${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
       this.state = S_COMMENT;
     }
     else {
@@ -1413,7 +1411,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sCData() {
-    if (this.captureToChar(CLOSE_BRACKET, "cdata")) {
+    if (this.captureToChar(CLOSE_BRACKET)) {
       this.state = S_CDATA_ENDING;
     }
   }
@@ -1425,7 +1423,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
       this.state = S_CDATA_ENDING_2;
     }
     else {
-      this.cdata += `]${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
+      this.text += `]${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
       this.state = S_CDATA;
     }
   }
@@ -1435,15 +1433,15 @@ class SaxesParser {
     const c = this.getCode();
     switch (c) {
     case GREATER:
-      this.oncdata(this.cdata);
-      this.cdata = "";
+      this.oncdata(this.text);
+      this.text = "";
       this.state = S_TEXT;
       break;
     case CLOSE_BRACKET:
-      this.cdata += "]";
+      this.text += "]";
       break;
     default:
-      this.cdata += `]]${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
+      this.text += `]]${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
       this.state = S_CDATA;
     }
   }
@@ -1511,14 +1509,17 @@ class SaxesParser {
         break;
       }
       case S_XML_DECL_NAME:
-        c = this.captureTo(XML_DECL_NAME_TERMINATOR, "xmlDeclName");
+        c = this.captureTo(XML_DECL_NAME_TERMINATOR);
         // The question mark character is not valid inside any of the XML
         // declaration name/value pairs.
         if (c === QUESTION) {
           this.state = S_PI_ENDING;
+          this.text = "";
           return;
         }
         if (isS(c) || c === EQUAL) {
+          this.xmlDeclName += this.text;
+          this.text = "";
           if (!this.xmlDeclExpects.includes(this.xmlDeclName)) {
             switch (this.xmlDeclName.length) {
             case 0:
@@ -1573,20 +1574,23 @@ class SaxesParser {
         }
         break;
       case S_XML_DECL_VALUE:
-        c = this.captureTo([this.q, QUESTION], "xmlDeclValue");
+        c = this.captureTo([this.q, QUESTION]);
 
         // The question mark character is not valid inside any of the XML
         // declaration name/value pairs.
         if (c === QUESTION) {
           this.state = S_PI_ENDING;
+          this.text = "";
           return;
         }
 
         if (c !== EOC) {
+          const value = this.text;
+          this.text = "";
           switch (this.xmlDeclName) {
           case "version": {
             this.xmlDeclExpects = ["encoding", "standalone"];
-            const version = this.xmlDeclValue;
+            const version = value;
             this.xmlDecl.version = version;
             // This is the test specified by XML 1.0 but it is fine for XML 1.1.
             if (!/^1\.[0-9]+$/.test(version)) {
@@ -1599,25 +1603,25 @@ class SaxesParser {
             break;
           }
           case "encoding":
-            if (!/^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9._-]*$/.test(this.xmlDeclValue)) {
+            if (!/^[A-Za-z][A-Za-z0-9._-]*$/.test(value)) {
               this.fail("encoding value must match \
 /^[A-Za-z0-9][A-Za-z0-9._-]*$/.");
             }
             this.xmlDeclExpects = ["standalone"];
-            this.xmlDecl.encoding = this.xmlDeclValue;
+            this.xmlDecl.encoding = value;
             break;
           case "standalone":
-            if (this.xmlDeclValue !== "yes" && this.xmlDeclValue !== "no") {
+            if (value !== "yes" && value !== "no") {
               this.fail("standalone value must match \"yes\" or \"no\".");
             }
             this.xmlDeclExpects = [];
-            this.xmlDecl.standalone = this.xmlDeclValue;
+            this.xmlDecl.standalone = value;
             break;
           default:
             // We don't need to raise an error here since we've already
             // raised one when checking what name was expected.
           }
-          this.xmlDeclName = this.xmlDeclValue = "";
+          this.xmlDeclName = "";
           this.xmlDeclState = S_XML_DECL_NAME_START;
           this.requiredSeparator = true;
         }
@@ -1627,18 +1631,18 @@ class SaxesParser {
                         `Unknown XML declaration state: ${this.xmlDeclState}`);
       }
     }
-    else if (this.piBody.length === 0) {
+    else if (this.text.length === 0) {
       c = this.getCode();
       if (c === QUESTION) {
         this.state = S_PI_ENDING;
       }
       else if (!isS(c)) {
-        this.piBody = String.fromCodePoint(c);
+        this.text = String.fromCodePoint(c);
       }
     }
     // The question mark character is not valid inside any of the XML
     // declaration name/value pairs.
-    else if (this.captureToChar(QUESTION, "piBody")) {
+    else if (this.captureToChar(QUESTION)) {
       this.state = S_PI_ENDING;
     }
   }
@@ -1657,9 +1661,9 @@ class SaxesParser {
         else if (this.xmlDeclExpects.includes("version")) {
           this.fail("XML declaration must contain a version.");
         }
-        this.xmlDeclName = this.xmlDeclValue = "";
+        this.xmlDeclName = "";
         this.requiredSeparator = false;
-        this.piTarget = this.piBody = "";
+        this.piTarget = this.text = "";
         this.state = S_TEXT;
       }
       else {
@@ -1676,9 +1680,9 @@ class SaxesParser {
       }
       this.onprocessinginstruction({
         target: this.piTarget,
-        body: this.piBody,
+        body: this.text,
       });
-      this.piTarget = this.piBody = "";
+      this.piTarget = this.text = "";
       this.state = S_TEXT;
     }
     else if (c === QUESTION) {
@@ -1686,10 +1690,10 @@ class SaxesParser {
       // took the first ? as a sign that the PI was ending, but it is
       // not. So we have to add it to the body but we take the new ? as a
       // sign that the PI is ending.
-      this.piBody += "?";
+      this.text += "?";
     }
     else {
-      this.piBody += `?${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
+      this.text += `?${String.fromCodePoint(c)}`;
       this.state = S_PI_BODY;
     }
     this.xmlDeclPossible = false;
@@ -1878,8 +1882,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
       const code = this.getCode();
       switch (code) {
       case q:
-        this.pushAttrib(this.name,
-                        this.text + chunk.slice(start, this.prevI));
+        this.pushAttrib(this.name, this.text + chunk.slice(start, this.prevI));
         this.name = this.text = "";
         this.q = null;
         this.state = S_ATTRIB_VALUE_CLOSED;
@@ -1890,7 +1893,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
         this.entityReturnState = S_ATTRIB_VALUE_QUOTED;
         return;
       case NL:
-        start = this.handleEOL("text", chunk, start);
+        start = this.handleEOL(chunk, start);
         break;
       case LESS:
         this.text += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
@@ -1928,7 +1931,7 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sAttribValueUnquoted() {
-    const c = this.captureTo(ATTRIB_VALUE_UNQUOTED_TERMINATOR, "text");
+    const c = this.captureTo(ATTRIB_VALUE_UNQUOTED_TERMINATOR);
     switch (c) {
     case AMP:
       this.state = S_ENTITY;
@@ -1983,15 +1986,37 @@ class SaxesParser {
 
   /** @private */
   sEntity() {
-    if (this.captureToChar(SEMICOLON, "entity")) {
-      this.state = this.entityReturnState;
-      if (this.entity === "") {
-        this.fail("empty entity name.");
-        this.text += "&;";
-        return;
+    // This is essentially a specialized version of captureToChar(SEMICOLON...)
+    let { i: start } = this;
+    const { chunk } = this;
+    // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels, no-restricted-syntax
+    loop:
+    while (true) {
+      switch (this.getCode()) {
+      case NL:
+        if (!this.originalNL) {
+          this.entity += `${chunk.slice(start, this.prevI)}\n`;
+          start = this.i;
+        }
+        break;
+      case SEMICOLON:
+        this.entity += chunk.slice(start, this.prevI);
+        this.state = this.entityReturnState;
+        if (this.entity === "") {
+          this.fail("empty entity name.");
+          this.text += "&;";
+          return;
+        }
+        this.text += this.parseEntity(this.entity);
+        this.entity = "";
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
+        break loop;
+      case EOC:
+        this.entity += chunk.slice(start);
+        // eslint-disable-next-line no-labels
+        break loop;
+      default:
       }
-      this.text += this.parseEntity(this.entity);
-      this.entity = "";
     }
   }