diff --git a/pollen/private/doclang-raw.rkt b/pollen/private/doclang-raw.rkt
index 2b33a4d..f47f50a 100755
--- a/pollen/private/doclang-raw.rkt
+++ b/pollen/private/doclang-raw.rkt
@@ -10,18 +10,16 @@
 
 (define-syntax (*module-begin stx)
   (syntax-case stx ()
-    [(_ id . body)
-     (with-syntax ([post-process #'(λ (x) x)]
-                   [exprs #'()])
+    [(_ id post-process . body)
+     (with-syntax ([exprs #'()])
        #'(#%module-begin
           (doc-begin id post-process exprs . body)))]))
 
 (define-syntax (doc-begin stx)
   (syntax-case stx ()
     [(_ m-id post-process (expr ...))
-     #`(begin
-         (define m-id (post-process (list . #,(reverse (syntax->list #'(expr ...))))))
-         (provide m-id))]
+     ;; unlike regular doclang, don't `provide` m-id (we'll do that in main-base wrapper)
+     #`(define m-id (post-process (list . #,(reverse (syntax->list #'(expr ...))))))]
     [(_ m-id post-process exprs . body)
      ;; `body' probably starts with lots of string constants; it's
      ;; slow to trampoline on every string, so do them in a batch
diff --git a/pollen/private/main-base.rkt b/pollen/private/main-base.rkt
index eac9968..b87dfdb 100644
--- a/pollen/private/main-base.rkt
+++ b/pollen/private/main-base.rkt
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #lang racket/base
 (require (for-syntax racket/base racket/syntax "../setup.rkt" "split-metas.rkt")
-         "to-string.rkt" "../pagetree.rkt" "splice.rkt" "../setup.rkt" "../core.rkt")
+         "to-string.rkt" "../pagetree.rkt" "splice.rkt" "../setup.rkt" "../core.rkt"
+         (prefix-in doclang: "doclang-raw.rkt"))
 (provide (except-out (all-from-out racket/base) #%module-begin)
          (rename-out [dialect-module-begin #%module-begin]))
 
@@ -51,33 +52,20 @@
                      [METAS-ID (setup:meta-export)]
                      [META-MOD-ID (setup:meta-export)]
                      [ROOT-ID (setup:main-root-node)]
-                     [DOC-ID (setup:main-export)]
-                     ;; prevents conflicts with other imported Pollen sources
-                     [DOC-RAW (datum->syntax #'here (syntax->datum (generate-temporary 'pollen-)))])
-         #'(#%module-begin
-            (require pollen/top) ; we could get this via 'inner, but then we'd have to avoid exporting it
-              
+                     [DOC-ID (setup:main-export)])
+         #'(doclang:#%module-begin
+            DOC-ID ; positional arg for doclang-raw: name of export
+            (λ (xs)
+              (define parser-mode (or 'PARSER-MODE-FROM-READER PARSER-MODE-FROM-EXPANDER))
+              (define proc (make-parse-proc parser-mode ROOT-ID))
+              (define doc-elements (splice (strip-leading-newlines xs) (setup:splicing-tag)))
+              (proc doc-elements)) ;  positional arg for doclang-raw: post-processor
             (module META-MOD-ID racket/base
               (provide METAS-ID)
               (define METAS-ID META-HASH))
-                
-            (module inner pollen/private/doclang-raw
-              DOC-RAW ; positional arg for doclang-raw that sets name of export
-              (require pollen/top pollen/core pollen/setup (submod ".." META-MOD-ID))
-              (and (current-metas METAS-ID) "\n") ; because newlines get stripped, voids don't
-              (provide (all-defined-out) METAS-ID)
-              . EXPRS-WITHOUT-METAS)            
-
+            (require pollen/top pollen/core pollen/setup (submod "." META-MOD-ID))
+            (provide (all-defined-out) METAS-ID DOC-ID)
             (define prev-metas (current-metas))
-            (require 'inner)
-
-            (define DOC-ID
-              ;; parser-mode must be resolved at runtime, not compile time
-              (let* ([parser-mode (or 'PARSER-MODE-FROM-READER PARSER-MODE-FROM-EXPANDER)]
-                     [proc (make-parse-proc parser-mode ROOT-ID)] 
-                     [doc-elements (strip-leading-newlines DOC-RAW)]
-                     [doc-elements-spliced (splice doc-elements (setup:splicing-tag))])
-                (proc doc-elements-spliced)))
-
-            (current-metas prev-metas)
-            (provide DOC-ID (except-out (all-from-out 'inner) DOC-RAW)))))]))
+            (and (current-metas METAS-ID) "\n") ; because newlines get stripped, voids don't
+            (begin . EXPRS-WITHOUT-METAS)
+            (and (current-metas prev-metas) ""))))])) ; leave behind empty string, not void
diff --git a/pollen/test/pollen.rkt b/pollen/test/pollen.rkt
index 0181b8e..d4b942b 100644
--- a/pollen/test/pollen.rkt
+++ b/pollen/test/pollen.rkt
@@ -1,8 +1,15 @@
 #lang racket/base
+(require racket/string pollen/core)
 
 ;; This will prevent tests from littering their directory
 ;; with pollen-cache files.
 (module setup racket/base
   (provide (all-defined-out))
   (define compile-cache-active #f)
-  (define render-cache-active #f))
\ No newline at end of file
+  (define render-cache-active #f))
+
+(provide test-current-metas)
+(define (test-current-metas)
+  (if (current-metas)
+      (string-join (sort (map symbol->string (hash-keys (current-metas))) string<?) " ")
+      "false"))
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pollen/test/test-current-metas-none.rkt b/pollen/test/test-current-metas-none.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..d37e672
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pollen/test/test-current-metas-none.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+#lang racket/base
+(require pollen/core "pollen.rkt" rackunit)
+(check-equal? (test-current-metas) "false")
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/pollen/test/test-current-metas.rkt b/pollen/test/test-current-metas.rkt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..4e1399a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pollen/test/test-current-metas.rkt
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+#lang pollen
+◊(require rackunit)
+◊(define-meta foo "bar")
+◊(check-equal? ◊(test-current-metas) "foo here-path zim")
+◊(define-meta zim "zam")