diff --git a/js/jquery.mobile.buttonMarkup.js b/js/jquery.mobile.buttonMarkup.js
index 4bf4e369..c2c1ef42 100644
--- a/js/jquery.mobile.buttonMarkup.js
+++ b/js/jquery.mobile.buttonMarkup.js
@@ -81,23 +81,51 @@ $.fn.buttonMarkup.defaults = {
 	wrapperEls: "span"
 };
 
+function closestEnabledButton(element)
+{
+	while (element){
+		var $ele = $(element);
+		if ($ele.hasClass("ui-btn") && !ele.hasClass("ui-disabled")){
+			break;
+		}
+		element = element.parentNode;
+	}
+	return element;
+}
+
 var attachEvents = function() {
-	$(".ui-btn:not(.ui-disabled)").live({
+	$(document).bind({
 		"vmousedown": function() {
-			var theme = $(this).attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
-			$(this).removeClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-down-" + theme );
+			var btn = closestEnabledButton(this);
+			if (btn){
+				var $btn = $(btn),
+					theme = $btn.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
+				$btn.removeClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-down-" + theme );
+			}
 		},
 		"vmousecancel vmouseup": function() {
-			var theme = $(this).attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
-			$(this).removeClass( "ui-btn-down-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme );
+			var btn = closestEnabledButton(this);
+			if (btn){
+				var $btn = $(btn),
+					theme = $btn.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
+				$btn.removeClass( "ui-btn-down-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme );
+			}
 		},
 		"vmouseover focus": function() {
-			var theme = $(this).attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
-			$(this).removeClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-hover-" + theme );
+			var btn = closestEnabledButton(this);
+			if (btn){
+				var $btn = $(btn),
+					theme = $btn.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
+				$btn.removeClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-hover-" + theme );
+			}
 		},
 		"vmouseout blur": function() {
-			var theme = $(this).attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
-			$(this).removeClass( "ui-btn-hover-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme );
+			var btn = closestEnabledButton(this);
+			if (btn){
+				var $btn = $(btn),
+					theme = $btn.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "theme" );
+				$btn.removeClass( "ui-btn-hover-" + theme ).addClass( "ui-btn-up-" + theme );
+			}
 		}
 	});
 
diff --git a/js/jquery.mobile.navigation.js b/js/jquery.mobile.navigation.js
index 614f360d..dcaffde2 100644
--- a/js/jquery.mobile.navigation.js
+++ b/js/jquery.mobile.navigation.js
@@ -718,19 +718,37 @@
 		event.preventDefault();
 	});
 
+	function findClosestLink(ele)
+	{
+		while (ele){
+			if (ele.nodeName.toLowerCase() == "a"){
+				break;
+			}
+			ele = ele.parentNode;
+		}
+		return ele;
+	}
+
 	//add active state on vclick
-	$( "a" ).live( "vclick", function(){
-		$(this).closest( ".ui-btn" ).not( ".ui-disabled" ).addClass( $.mobile.activeBtnClass );
+	$( document).bind( "vclick", function(event){
+		var link = findClosestLink(event.target);
+		if (link){
+			$(link).closest( ".ui-btn" ).not( ".ui-disabled" ).addClass( $.mobile.activeBtnClass );
+		}
 	});
 
 
 	//click routing - direct to HTTP or Ajax, accordingly
-	$( "a" ).live( "click", function(event) {
+	$( document ).bind( "click", function(event) {
+		var link = findClosestLink(event.target);
+		if (!link){
+			return;
+		}
 
-		var $this = $(this),
+		var $link = $(link),
 
 			//get href, if defined, otherwise fall to null #
-			href = $this.attr( "href" ) || "#",
+			href = $link.attr( "href" ) || "#",
 
 			//cache a check for whether the link had a protocol
 			//if this is true and the link was same domain, we won't want
@@ -742,7 +760,7 @@
 			url = path.clean( href ),
 
 			//rel set to external
-			isRelExternal = $this.is( "[rel='external']" ),
+			isRelExternal = $link.is( "[rel='external']" ),
 
 			//rel set to external
 			isEmbeddedPage = path.isEmbeddedPage( url ),
@@ -761,13 +779,13 @@
 			isExternal = (path.isExternal(url) && !isCrossDomainPageLoad) || (isRelExternal && !isEmbeddedPage),
 
 			//if target attr is specified we mimic _blank... for now
-			hasTarget = $this.is( "[target]" ),
+			hasTarget = $link.is( "[target]" ),
 
 			//if data-ajax attr is set to false, use the default behavior of a link
-			hasAjaxDisabled = $this.is( ":jqmData(ajax='false')" );
+			hasAjaxDisabled = $link.is( ":jqmData(ajax='false')" );
 
 		//if there's a data-rel=back attr, go back in history
-		if( $this.is( ":jqmData(rel='back')" ) ){
+		if( $link.is( ":jqmData(rel='back')" ) ){
 			window.history.back();
 			return false;
 		}
@@ -780,7 +798,7 @@
 			return;
 		}
 
-		$activeClickedLink = $this.closest( ".ui-btn" );
+		$activeClickedLink = $link.closest( ".ui-btn" );
 
 		if( isExternal || hasAjaxDisabled || hasTarget || !$.mobile.ajaxEnabled ||
 			// TODO: deprecated - remove at 1.0
@@ -793,14 +811,14 @@
 		}
 
 		//use ajax
-		var transition = $this.jqmData( "transition" ),
-			direction = $this.jqmData("direction"),
+		var transition = $link.jqmData( "transition" ),
+			direction = $link.jqmData("direction"),
 			reverse = (direction && direction === "reverse") ||
 			// deprecated - remove by 1.0
-			$this.jqmData( "back" );
+			$link.jqmData( "back" );
 
 		//this may need to be more specific as we use data-rel more
-		nextPageRole = $this.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "rel" );
+		nextPageRole = $link.attr( "data-" + $.mobile.ns + "rel" );
 
 		//if it's a relative href, prefix href with base url
 		if( path.isRelative( url ) && !hadProtocol ){
diff --git a/js/jquery.mobile.vmouse.js b/js/jquery.mobile.vmouse.js
index 7aec92e9..a99dfa0e 100644
--- a/js/jquery.mobile.vmouse.js
+++ b/js/jquery.mobile.vmouse.js
@@ -91,28 +91,26 @@ function createVirtualEvent(event, eventType)
 function getVirtualBindingFlags(element)
 {
 	var flags = {};
-	var $ele = $(element);
-	while ($ele && $ele.length){
-		var b = $ele.data(dataPropertyName);
+	while (element){
+		var b = $.data(element, dataPropertyName);
 		for (var k in b) {
 			if (b[k]){
 				flags[k] = flags.hasVirtualBinding = true;
 			}
 		}
-		$ele = $ele.parent();
+		element = element.parentNode;
 	}
 	return flags;
 }
 
 function getClosestElementWithVirtualBinding(element, eventType)
 {
-	var $ele = $(element);
-	while ($ele && $ele.length){
-		var b = $ele.data(dataPropertyName);
+	while (element){
+		var b = $.data(element, dataPropertyName);
 		if (b && (!eventType || b[eventType])) {
-			return $ele;
+			return element;
 		}
-		$ele = $ele.parent();
+		element = element.parentNode;
 	}
 	return null;
 }
@@ -177,7 +175,7 @@ function triggerVirtualEvent(eventType, event, flags)
 
 function mouseEventCallback(event)
 {
-	var touchID = $(event.target).data(touchTargetPropertyName);
+	var touchID = $.data(event.target, touchTargetPropertyName);
 	if (!blockMouseTriggers && (!lastTouchID || lastTouchID !== touchID)){
 		triggerVirtualEvent("v" + event.type, event);
 	}
@@ -192,7 +190,7 @@ function handleTouchStart(event)
 	
 		if (flags.hasVirtualBinding){
 			lastTouchID = nextTouchID++;
-			$(target).data(touchTargetPropertyName, lastTouchID);
+			$.data(target, touchTargetPropertyName, lastTouchID);
 	
 			clearResetTimer();
 			
@@ -274,9 +272,9 @@ function handleTouchEnd(event)
 	startResetTimer();
 }
 
-function hasVirtualBindings($ele)
+function hasVirtualBindings(ele)
 {
-	var bindings = $ele.data(dataPropertyName), k;
+	var bindings = $.data(ele, dataPropertyName), k;
 	if (bindings){
 		for (k in bindings){
 			if (bindings[k]){
@@ -297,16 +295,14 @@ function getSpecialEventObject(eventType)
 			// If this is the first virtual mouse binding for this element,
 			// add a bindings object to its data.
 
-			var $this = $(this);
-
-			if (!hasVirtualBindings($this)){
-				$this.data(dataPropertyName, {});
+			if (!hasVirtualBindings(this)){
+				$.data(this, dataPropertyName, {});
 			}
 
 			// If setup is called, we know it is the first binding for this
 			// eventType, so initialize the count for the eventType to zero.
 
-			var bindings = $this.data(dataPropertyName);
+			var bindings = $.data(this, dataPropertyName);
 			bindings[eventType] = true;
 
 			// If this is the first virtual mouse event for this type,
@@ -321,7 +317,7 @@ function getSpecialEventObject(eventType)
 			// for elements unless they actually have handlers registered on them.
 			// To get around this, we register dummy handlers on the elements.
 
-			$this.bind(realType, dummyMouseHandler);
+			$(this).bind(realType, dummyMouseHandler);
 
 			// For now, if event capture is not supported, we rely on mouse handlers.
 			if (eventCaptureSupported){
@@ -373,7 +369,7 @@ function getSpecialEventObject(eventType)
 			}
 
 			var $this = $(this),
-				bindings = $this.data(dataPropertyName);
+				bindings = $.data(this, dataPropertyName);
 			bindings[eventType] = false;
 
 			// Unregister the dummy event handler.
@@ -383,7 +379,7 @@ function getSpecialEventObject(eventType)
 			// If this is the last virtual mouse binding on the
 			// element, remove the binding data from the element.
 
-			if (!hasVirtualBindings($this)){
+			if (!hasVirtualBindings(this)){
 				$this.removeData(dataPropertyName);
 			}
 		}
@@ -440,7 +436,7 @@ if (eventCaptureSupported){
 				for (var i = 0; i < cnt; i++) {
 					var o = clickBlockList[i],
 						touchID = 0;
-					if ((ele === target && Math.abs(o.x - x) < threshold && Math.abs(o.y - y) < threshold) || $(ele).data(touchTargetPropertyName) === o.touchID){
+					if ((ele === target && Math.abs(o.x - x) < threshold && Math.abs(o.y - y) < threshold) || $.data(ele, touchTargetPropertyName) === o.touchID){
 						// XXX: We may want to consider removing matches from the block list
 						//      instead of waiting for the reset timer to fire.
 						e.preventDefault();