diff --git a/src/Page.js b/src/Page.js
index 9b4162e855..4e108b29c4 100644
--- a/src/Page.js
+++ b/src/Page.js
@@ -566,11 +566,9 @@ class Page {
    * Produces expressive layouts by inserting page data into pre-specified layout
    * @param pageData a page with its front matter collected
    * @param {FileConfig} fileConfig
+   * @param {Parser} markbinder instance from the caller, for adding the seen sources.
    */
-  generateExpressiveLayout(pageData, fileConfig) {
-    const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-    const template = {};
-    template[LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE] = pageData;
+  generateExpressiveLayout(pageData, fileConfig, markbinder) {
     const { layout } = this.frontMatter;
     const layoutPath = path.join(this.rootPath, LAYOUT_FOLDER_PATH, layout);
     const layoutPagePath = path.join(layoutPath, LAYOUT_PAGE);
@@ -578,30 +576,22 @@ class Page {
     if (!fs.existsSync(layoutPagePath)) {
       return pageData;
     }
-    const layoutFileConfig = {
-      ...fileConfig,
-      cwf: layoutPagePath,
-      additionalVariables: {},
-    };
-
-    layoutFileConfig.additionalVariables[LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE] = `{{${LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE}}}`;
 
     // Set expressive layout file as an includedFile
     this.includedFiles.add(layoutPagePath);
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-    // Retrieve Expressive Layouts page and insert content
-      fs.readFileAsync(layoutPagePath, 'utf8')
-        .then(result => markbinder.includeData(layoutPagePath, result, layoutFileConfig))
-        .then(result => njUtil.renderRaw(result, template, {}, false))
-        .then((result) => {
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getDynamicIncludeSrc());
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getStaticIncludeSrc());
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getMissingIncludeSrc());
-          return result;
-        })
-        .then(resolve)
-        .catch(reject);
-    });
+    return fs.readFileAsync(layoutPagePath, 'utf8')
+      // Include file but with altered cwf (the layout page)
+      // Also render MAIN_CONTENT_BODY back to itself
+      .then(result => markbinder.includeFile(layoutPagePath, result, {
+        ...fileConfig,
+        cwf: layoutPagePath,
+      }, {
+        [LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE]: `{{${LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE}}}`,
+      }))
+      // Insert content
+      .then(result => njUtil.renderRaw(result, {
+        [LAYOUT_PAGE_BODY_VARIABLE]: pageData,
+      }, {}, false));
   }
 
 
@@ -924,70 +914,67 @@ class Page {
       headerIdMap: this.headerIdMap,
       fixedHeader: this.fixedHeader,
     };
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      markbinder.includeFile(this.sourcePath, fileConfig)
-        .then((result) => {
-          this.collectFrontMatter(result);
-          return Page.removeFrontMatter(result);
-        })
-        .then(result => this.generateExpressiveLayout(result, fileConfig))
-        .then(result => Page.removePageHeaderAndFooter(result))
-        .then(result => Page.addContentWrapper(result))
-        .then(result => this.collectPluginSources(result))
-        .then(result => this.preRender(result))
-        .then(result => this.insertSiteNav((result)))
-        .then(result => this.insertHeaderFile(result, fileConfig))
-        .then(result => this.insertFooterFile(result))
-        .then(result => Page.insertTemporaryStyles(result))
-        .then(result => markbinder.resolveBaseUrl(result, fileConfig))
-        .then(result => markbinder.render(result, this.sourcePath, fileConfig))
-        .then(result => this.postRender(result))
-        .then(result => this.collectPluginsAssets(result))
-        .then(result => markbinder.processDynamicResources(this.sourcePath, result))
-        .then(result => MarkBind.unwrapIncludeSrc(result))
-        .then((result) => {
-          this.content = result;
-
-          const { relative } = urlUtils.getParentSiteAbsoluteAndRelativePaths(this.sourcePath, this.rootPath,
-                                                                              this.baseUrlMap);
-          const baseUrl = relative ? `${this.baseUrl}/${utils.ensurePosix(relative)}` : this.baseUrl;
-          const hostBaseUrl = this.baseUrl;
-
-          this.addLayoutFiles();
-          this.collectHeadFiles(baseUrl, hostBaseUrl);
-
-          this.content = njUtil.renderString(this.content, {
-            baseUrl,
-            hostBaseUrl,
-          });
+    return fs.readFileAsync(this.sourcePath, 'utf-8')
+      .then(result => markbinder.includeFile(this.sourcePath, result, fileConfig))
+      .then((result) => {
+        this.collectFrontMatter(result);
+        return Page.removeFrontMatter(result);
+      })
+      .then(result => this.generateExpressiveLayout(result, fileConfig, markbinder))
+      .then(result => Page.removePageHeaderAndFooter(result))
+      .then(result => Page.addContentWrapper(result))
+      .then(result => this.collectPluginSources(result))
+      .then(result => this.preRender(result))
+      .then(result => this.insertSiteNav((result)))
+      .then(result => this.insertHeaderFile(result, fileConfig))
+      .then(result => this.insertFooterFile(result))
+      .then(result => Page.insertTemporaryStyles(result))
+      .then(result => markbinder.resolveBaseUrl(result, fileConfig))
+      .then(result => markbinder.render(result, this.sourcePath, fileConfig))
+      .then(result => this.postRender(result))
+      .then(result => this.collectPluginsAssets(result))
+      .then(result => markbinder.processDynamicResources(this.sourcePath, result))
+      .then(result => MarkBind.unwrapIncludeSrc(result))
+      .then((result) => {
+        this.content = result;
+
+        const { relative } = urlUtils.getParentSiteAbsoluteAndRelativePaths(this.sourcePath, this.rootPath,
+                                                                            this.baseUrlMap);
+        const baseUrl = relative ? `${this.baseUrl}/${utils.ensurePosix(relative)}` : this.baseUrl;
+        const hostBaseUrl = this.baseUrl;
+
+        this.addLayoutFiles();
+        this.collectHeadFiles(baseUrl, hostBaseUrl);
+
+        this.content = njUtil.renderString(this.content, {
+          baseUrl,
+          hostBaseUrl,
+        });
 
-          this.collectAllPageSections();
-          this.buildPageNav();
+        this.collectAllPageSections();
+        this.buildPageNav();
 
-          const renderedTemplate = this.template.render(this.prepareTemplateData());
-          const outputTemplateHTML = this.disableHtmlBeautify
-            ? renderedTemplate
-            : htmlBeautify(renderedTemplate, Page.htmlBeautifyOptions);
+        const renderedTemplate = this.template.render(this.prepareTemplateData());
+        const outputTemplateHTML = this.disableHtmlBeautify
+          ? renderedTemplate
+          : htmlBeautify(renderedTemplate, Page.htmlBeautifyOptions);
 
-          return fs.outputFileAsync(this.resultPath, outputTemplateHTML);
-        })
-        .then(() => {
-          const resolvingFiles = [];
-          Page.unique(markbinder.getDynamicIncludeSrc()).forEach((source) => {
-            if (!FsUtil.isUrl(source.to)) {
-              resolvingFiles.push(this.resolveDependency(source, builtFiles));
-            }
-          });
-          return Promise.all(resolvingFiles);
-        })
-        .then(() => {
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getDynamicIncludeSrc());
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getStaticIncludeSrc());
-          this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getMissingIncludeSrc());
-        })
-        .then(resolve)
-        .catch(reject);
-    });
+        return fs.outputFileAsync(this.resultPath, outputTemplateHTML);
+      })
+      .then(() => {
+        const resolvingFiles = [];
+        Page.unique(markbinder.getDynamicIncludeSrc()).forEach((source) => {
+          if (!FsUtil.isUrl(source.to)) {
+            resolvingFiles.push(this.resolveDependency(source, builtFiles));
+          }
+        });
+        return Promise.all(resolvingFiles);
+      })
+      .then(() => {
+        this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getDynamicIncludeSrc());
+        this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getStaticIncludeSrc());
+        this.collectIncludedFiles(markbinder.getMissingIncludeSrc());
+      });
   }
 
   /**
@@ -1231,12 +1218,14 @@ class Page {
        * so that we only recursively rebuild the file's included content
        */
       const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-      return markbinder.includeFile(dependency.to, {
-        baseUrlMap: this.baseUrlMap,
-        userDefinedVariablesMap: this.userDefinedVariablesMap,
-        rootPath: this.rootPath,
-        cwf: file,
-      }).then(result => Page.removeFrontMatter(result))
+      return fs.readFileAsync(dependency.to, 'utf-8')
+        .then(result => markbinder.includeFile(dependency.to, result, {
+          baseUrlMap: this.baseUrlMap,
+          userDefinedVariablesMap: this.userDefinedVariablesMap,
+          rootPath: this.rootPath,
+          cwf: file,
+        }))
+        .then(result => Page.removeFrontMatter(result))
         .then(result => this.collectPluginSources(result))
         .then(result => this.preRender(result))
         .then(result => markbinder.resolveBaseUrl(result, {
diff --git a/src/lib/markbind/src/parser.js b/src/lib/markbind/src/parser.js
index 6ef6bda11c..902185601a 100644
--- a/src/lib/markbind/src/parser.js
+++ b/src/lib/markbind/src/parser.js
@@ -373,7 +373,7 @@ class Parser {
     }
   }
 
-  includeFile(file, config) {
+  includeFile(file, content, config, additionalVariables = {}) {
     const context = {};
     context.cwf = config.cwf || file; // current working file
     context.callStack = [];
@@ -396,87 +396,6 @@ class Parser {
         });
         resolve(cheerio.html(nodes));
       });
-      const parser = new htmlparser.Parser(handler, {
-        xmlMode: true,
-        decodeEntities: true,
-      });
-      let actualFilePath = file;
-      if (!utils.fileExists(file)) {
-        const boilerplateFilePath = urlUtils.calculateBoilerplateFilePath(path.basename(file), file, config);
-        if (utils.fileExists(boilerplateFilePath)) {
-          actualFilePath = boilerplateFilePath;
-        }
-      }
-      // Read files
-      fs.readFile(actualFilePath, 'utf-8', (err, data) => {
-        if (err) {
-          reject(err);
-          return;
-        }
-        const parentSitePath = urlUtils.getParentSiteAbsolutePath(file, config.rootPath, config.baseUrlMap);
-        const userDefinedVariables = config.userDefinedVariablesMap[parentSitePath];
-        const pageVariables = Parser.extractPageVariables(file, data, userDefinedVariables, {});
-        let fileContent = njUtil.renderRaw(data, {
-          ...pageVariables,
-          ...userDefinedVariables,
-        }, {
-          path: actualFilePath,
-        });
-        this._extractInnerVariables(fileContent, context, config);
-        const innerVariables = this.getImportedVariableMap(context.cwf);
-        fileContent = njUtil.renderRaw(fileContent, {
-          ...userDefinedVariables, ...innerVariables,
-        });
-        const fileExt = utils.getExt(file);
-        if (utils.isMarkdownFileExt(fileExt)) {
-          context.source = 'md';
-          parser.parseComplete(fileContent.toString());
-        } else if (fileExt === 'html') {
-          context.source = 'html';
-          parser.parseComplete(fileContent);
-        } else {
-          const error = new Error(`Unsupported File Extension: '${fileExt}'`);
-          reject(error);
-        }
-      });
-    });
-  }
-
-  includeData(file, pageData, config) {
-    const context = {};
-    context.cwf = config.cwf || file; // current working file
-
-    return new Promise((resolve, reject) => {
-      let actualFilePath = file;
-      if (!utils.fileExists(file)) {
-        const boilerplateFilePath = urlUtils.calculateBoilerplateFilePath(path.basename(file), file, config);
-        if (utils.fileExists(boilerplateFilePath)) {
-          actualFilePath = boilerplateFilePath;
-        }
-      }
-
-      const currentContext = context;
-      currentContext.callStack = [];
-
-      const handler = new htmlparser.DomHandler((error, dom) => {
-        if (error) {
-          reject(error);
-          return;
-        }
-        const nodes = dom.map((d) => {
-          let processed;
-          try {
-            processed = componentPreprocessor.preProcessComponent(d, currentContext, config, this);
-          } catch (err) {
-            err.message += `\nError while preprocessing '${actualFilePath}'`;
-            logger.error(err);
-            processed = utils.createErrorNode(d, err);
-          }
-          return processed;
-        });
-        resolve(cheerio.html(nodes));
-      });
-
       const parser = new htmlparser.Parser(handler, {
         xmlMode: true,
         decodeEntities: true,
@@ -484,29 +403,26 @@ class Parser {
 
       const parentSitePath = urlUtils.getParentSiteAbsolutePath(file, config.rootPath, config.baseUrlMap);
       const userDefinedVariables = config.userDefinedVariablesMap[parentSitePath];
-      const { additionalVariables } = config;
-      const pageVariables = Parser.extractPageVariables(actualFilePath, pageData, userDefinedVariables, {});
-
-      let fileContent = njUtil.renderRaw(pageData, {
+      const pageVariables = Parser.extractPageVariables(file, content, userDefinedVariables, {});
+      let fileContent = njUtil.renderRaw(content, {
         ...pageVariables,
         ...userDefinedVariables,
         ...additionalVariables,
-      }, {
-        path: actualFilePath,
       });
-      this._extractInnerVariables(fileContent, currentContext, config);
-      const innerVariables = this.getImportedVariableMap(currentContext.cwf);
+      this._extractInnerVariables(fileContent, context, config);
+      const innerVariables = this.getImportedVariableMap(context.cwf);
       fileContent = njUtil.renderRaw(fileContent, {
         ...userDefinedVariables,
         ...additionalVariables,
         ...innerVariables,
       });
-      const fileExt = utils.getExt(actualFilePath);
+
+      const fileExt = utils.getExt(file);
       if (utils.isMarkdownFileExt(fileExt)) {
-        currentContext.source = 'md';
+        context.source = 'md';
         parser.parseComplete(fileContent.toString());
       } else if (fileExt === 'html') {
-        currentContext.source = 'html';
+        context.source = 'html';
         parser.parseComplete(fileContent);
       } else {
         const error = new Error(`Unsupported File Extension: '${fileExt}'`);
diff --git a/test/unit/parser.test.js b/test/unit/parser.test.js
index b51e04a5d0..d03f261a47 100644
--- a/test/unit/parser.test.js
+++ b/test/unit/parser.test.js
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include> with <div>', async () => {
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -77,7 +77,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="exist.md" optional> with <div>', async
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="doesNotExist.md" optional> with empty <
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#exists"> with <div>', async
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#exists" inline> with inline
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -236,7 +236,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#exists" trim> with trimmed c
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#doesNotExist"> with error <d
       expect(e.message).toEqual(expectedErrorMessage);
     },
   });
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -322,7 +322,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#exists" optional> with <div>
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -362,7 +362,7 @@ test('includeFile replaces <include src="include.md#doesNotExist" optional> with
   const baseUrlMap = new Set([ROOT_PATH]);
 
   const markbinder = new MarkBind();
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,
@@ -420,7 +420,7 @@ test('includeFile detects cyclic references for static cyclic includes', async (
       expect(e.message).toEqual(expectedErrorMessage);
     },
   });
-  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, {
+  const result = await markbinder.includeFile(indexPath, index, {
     baseUrlMap,
     rootPath: ROOT_PATH,
     userDefinedVariablesMap: DEFAULT_USER_DEFINED_VARIABLES_MAP,