diff --git a/components/style/rule_tree/mod.rs b/components/style/rule_tree/mod.rs
index 25cf08efb2b..a6a729fe2d5 100644
--- a/components/style/rule_tree/mod.rs
+++ b/components/style/rule_tree/mod.rs
@@ -150,8 +150,8 @@ impl RuleTree {
     }
 
     /// Get the root rule node.
-    pub fn root(&self) -> StrongRuleNode {
-        self.root.clone()
+    pub fn root(&self) -> &StrongRuleNode {
+        &self.root
     }
 
     fn dump<W: Write>(&self, guards: &StylesheetGuards, writer: &mut W) {
@@ -171,11 +171,13 @@ impl RuleTree {
     /// !important rules are detected and inserted into the appropriate position
     /// in the rule tree. This allows selector matching to ignore importance,
     /// while still maintaining the appropriate cascade order in the rule tree.
-    pub fn insert_ordered_rules_with_important<'a, I>(&self,
-                                                      iter: I,
-                                                      guards: &StylesheetGuards)
-                                                      -> StrongRuleNode
-        where I: Iterator<Item=(StyleSource, CascadeLevel)>,
+    pub fn insert_ordered_rules_with_important<'a, I>(
+        &self,
+        iter: I,
+        guards: &StylesheetGuards
+    ) -> StrongRuleNode
+    where
+        I: Iterator<Item=(StyleSource, CascadeLevel)>,
     {
         use self::CascadeLevel::*;
         let mut current = self.root.clone();
@@ -257,11 +259,11 @@ impl RuleTree {
 
     /// Given a list of applicable declarations, insert the rules and return the
     /// corresponding rule node.
-    pub fn compute_rule_node(&self,
-                             applicable_declarations: &mut ApplicableDeclarationList,
-                             guards: &StylesheetGuards)
-                             -> StrongRuleNode
-    {
+    pub fn compute_rule_node(
+        &self,
+        applicable_declarations: &mut ApplicableDeclarationList,
+        guards: &StylesheetGuards
+    ) -> StrongRuleNode {
         let rules = applicable_declarations.drain().map(|d| d.order_and_level());
         let rule_node = self.insert_ordered_rules_with_important(rules, guards);
         rule_node
diff --git a/components/style/stylist.rs b/components/style/stylist.rs
index 427147e7e4f..0a7f6c105f8 100644
--- a/components/style/stylist.rs
+++ b/components/style/stylist.rs
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ use properties::{self, CascadeFlags, ComputedValues};
 use properties::{AnimationRules, PropertyDeclarationBlock};
 #[cfg(feature = "servo")]
 use properties::INHERIT_ALL;
-use rule_tree::{CascadeLevel, RuleTree, StrongRuleNode, StyleSource};
+use rule_tree::{CascadeLevel, RuleTree, StyleSource};
 use selector_map::{SelectorMap, SelectorMapEntry};
 use selector_parser::{SelectorImpl, PseudoElement};
 use selectors::attr::NamespaceConstraint;
@@ -607,13 +607,12 @@ impl Stylist {
 
         let rule_node = match self.precomputed_pseudo_element_decls.get(pseudo) {
             Some(declarations) => {
-                // FIXME(emilio): When we've taken rid of the cascade we can just
-                // use into_iter.
                 self.rule_tree.insert_ordered_rules_with_important(
                     declarations.into_iter().map(|a| (a.source.clone(), a.level())),
-                    guards)
+                    guards
+                )
             }
-            None => self.rule_tree.root(),
+            None => self.rule_tree.root().clone(),
         };
 
         // NOTE(emilio): We skip calculating the proper layout parent style
@@ -757,13 +756,7 @@ impl Stylist {
 
         // We may not have non-visited rules, if we only had visited ones.  In
         // that case we want to use the root rulenode for our non-visited rules.
-        let root;
-        let rules = if let Some(rules) = inputs.get_rules() {
-            rules
-        } else {
-            root = self.rule_tree.root();
-            &root
-        };
+        let rules = inputs.get_rules().unwrap_or(self.rule_tree.root());
 
         // Read the comment on `precomputed_values_for_pseudo` to see why it's
         // difficult to assert that display: contents nodes never arrive here
@@ -839,25 +832,25 @@ impl Stylist {
             MatchingContext::new(MatchingMode::ForStatelessPseudoElement,
                                  None,
                                  self.quirks_mode);
-        self.push_applicable_declarations(element,
-                                          Some(&pseudo),
-                                          None,
-                                          None,
-                                          AnimationRules(None, None),
-                                          rule_inclusion,
-                                          &mut declarations,
-                                          &mut matching_context,
-                                          &mut set_selector_flags);
+
+        self.push_applicable_declarations(
+            element,
+            Some(&pseudo),
+            None,
+            None,
+            AnimationRules(None, None),
+            rule_inclusion,
+            &mut declarations,
+            &mut matching_context,
+            &mut set_selector_flags
+        );
 
         if !declarations.is_empty() {
-            let rule_node = self.rule_tree.insert_ordered_rules_with_important(
-                declarations.into_iter().map(|a| a.order_and_level()),
-                guards);
-            if rule_node != self.rule_tree.root() {
-                inputs.set_rules(VisitedHandlingMode::AllLinksUnvisited,
-                                 rule_node);
-            }
-        };
+            let rule_node =
+                self.rule_tree.compute_rule_node(&mut declarations, guards);
+            debug_assert!(rule_node != *self.rule_tree.root());
+            inputs.set_rules(VisitedHandlingMode::AllLinksUnvisited, rule_node);
+        }
 
         if is_probe && !inputs.has_rules() {
             // When probing, don't compute visited styles if we have no
@@ -886,7 +879,7 @@ impl Stylist {
                     self.rule_tree.insert_ordered_rules_with_important(
                         declarations.into_iter().map(|a| a.order_and_level()),
                         guards);
-                if rule_node != self.rule_tree.root() {
+                if rule_node != *self.rule_tree.root() {
                     inputs.set_rules(VisitedHandlingMode::RelevantLinkVisited,
                                      rule_node);
                 }
@@ -1295,12 +1288,6 @@ impl Stylist {
         &self.animations
     }
 
-    /// Returns the rule root node.
-    #[inline]
-    pub fn rule_tree_root(&self) -> StrongRuleNode {
-        self.rule_tree.root()
-    }
-
     /// Computes the match results of a given element against the set of
     /// revalidation selectors.
     pub fn match_revalidation_selectors<E, F>(&self,