diff --git a/lona/html/__init__.py b/lona/html/__init__.py
index 50d34ffe..f2555955 100644
--- a/lona/html/__init__.py
+++ b/lona/html/__init__.py
@@ -125,13 +125,13 @@
 from lona.html.nodes.scripting import NoScript, Script, Canvas
 from lona.html.nodes.forms.select2 import Select2, Option2
 from lona.html.nodes.web_components import Template, Slot
+from lona.html.parsing import NodeHTMLParser, parse_html
 from lona.html.nodes.forms.select import Select, Option
 from lona.html.nodes.demarcating_edits import Ins, Del
 from lona.html.nodes.svg_and_mathml import Math, SVG
 from lona.events.event_types import *  # NOQA: F403
 from lona.html.nodes.sectioning_root import Body
 from lona.html.nodes.raw_nodes import RawHTML
-from lona.html.parsing import NodeHTMLParser
 from lona.html.widgets import HTML as HTML1
 from lona.html.parsing import HTML as HTML2
 from lona.compat import get_client_version
diff --git a/lona/html/parsing.py b/lona/html/parsing.py
index 5043b35e..ed38d183 100644
--- a/lona/html/parsing.py
+++ b/lona/html/parsing.py
@@ -198,8 +198,12 @@ def handle_endtag(self, tag):
         self.set_current_node(self._node.parent)
 
 
-def html_string_to_node_list(html_string, use_high_level_nodes=True,
-                             node_classes=None):
+def parse_html(
+        html_string: str,
+        use_high_level_nodes: bool = True,
+        node_classes: Dict[str, AbstractNode] | None = None,
+        flat: bool = True,
+) -> AbstractNode | List[AbstractNode]:
 
     root_node = Node()
     nodes = []
@@ -221,6 +225,9 @@ def html_string_to_node_list(html_string, use_high_level_nodes=True,
         node.remove()
         nodes.append(node)
 
+    if flat and len(nodes) == 1:
+        return nodes[0]
+
     return nodes
 
 
@@ -230,6 +237,8 @@ def HTML(
         node_classes: Dict[str, AbstractNode] | None = None,
 ) -> AbstractNode:
 
+    # TODO: remove HTML parsing in 2.0
+
     _nodes: List[AbstractNode] = []
 
     for node in nodes:
@@ -243,10 +252,11 @@ def HTML(
 
             # html string
             elif '<' in node or '>' in node:
-                parsed_nodes = html_string_to_node_list(
+                parsed_nodes = parse_html(
                     html_string=node,
                     use_high_level_nodes=use_high_level_nodes,
                     node_classes=node_classes or {},
+                    flat=False,
                 )
 
                 if len(nodes) > 1:
diff --git a/lona/html/widgets.py b/lona/html/widgets.py
index 8c12f29e..ec61d23c 100644
--- a/lona/html/widgets.py
+++ b/lona/html/widgets.py
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
-from lona.html.parsing import html_string_to_node_list
 from lona.html.text_node import TextNode
+from lona.html.parsing import parse_html
 from lona.html.widget import Widget
 
 
@@ -22,10 +22,11 @@ def __init__(self, *nodes, use_high_level_nodes=True, node_classes=None):
                         self.nodes.append(HTML(node))
 
                     else:
-                        self.nodes = html_string_to_node_list(
+                        self.nodes = parse_html(
                             html_string=node,
                             use_high_level_nodes=use_high_level_nodes,
                             node_classes=node_classes or {},
+                            flat=False,
                         )
 
                 else: