diff --git a/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_template_response.py b/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_template_response.py
index a6363c9f..d9bd2f63 100644
--- a/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_template_response.py
+++ b/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_template_response.py
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 from django_unicorn.utils import sanitize_html
 
 from ..decorators import timed
+from ..errors import MissingComponentElement, MissingComponentViewElement
 from ..utils import generate_checksum
 
 
@@ -132,15 +133,26 @@ def _desoupify(soup):
 
 def get_root_element(soup: BeautifulSoup) -> Tag:
     """
-    Gets the first tag element.
+    Gets the first tag element for the component or the first element with a `unicorn:view` attribute for a direct view.
 
     Returns:
         BeautifulSoup tag element.
 
-        Raises an Exception if an element cannot be found.
+        Raises `Exception` if an element cannot be found.
     """
+
     for element in soup.contents:
         if isinstance(element, Tag) and element.name:
+            if element.name == "html":
+                view_element = element.find_next(attrs={"unicorn:view": True})
+
+                if not view_element:
+                    raise MissingComponentViewElement(
+                        "An element with an `unicorn:view` attribute is required for a direct view"
+                    )
+
+                return view_element
+
             return element
 
-    raise Exception("No root element found")
+    raise MissingComponentElement("No root element for the component was found")
diff --git a/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_view.py b/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_view.py
index b092bca2..7dd9e3a7 100644
--- a/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_view.py
+++ b/django_unicorn/components/unicorn_view.py
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@
 from django.core.exceptions import ImproperlyConfigured
 from django.db.models import Model
 from django.http import HttpRequest
+from django.utils.decorators import classonlymethod
 from django.views.generic.base import TemplateView
 
 import shortuuid
@@ -299,18 +300,25 @@ def called(self, name, args):
         pass
 
     @timed
-    def render(self, init_js=False, extra_context=None) -> str:
+    def render(self, init_js=False, extra_context=None, request=None) -> str:
         """
         Renders a UnicornView component with the public properties available. Delegates to a
         UnicornTemplateResponse to actually render a response.
 
         Args:
             param init_js: Whether or not to include the Javascript required to initialize the component.
+            param extra_context:
+            param request: Set the `request` for rendering. Usually it will be in the context,
+                but it is missing when the component is re-rendered as a direct view, so it needs
+                to be set explicitly.
         """
 
         if extra_context is not None:
             self.extra_context = extra_context
 
+        if request:
+            self.request = request
+
         response = self.render_to_response(
             context=self.get_context_data(),
             component=self,
@@ -341,8 +349,13 @@ def dispatch(self, request, *args, **kwargs):
         Called by the `as_view` class method when utilizing a component directly as a view.
         """
 
+        self.mount()
+        self.hydrate()
+
         return self.render_to_response(
-            context=self.get_context_data(), component=self, init_js=True,
+            context=self.get_context_data(),
+            component=self,
+            init_js=True,
         )
 
     @timed
diff --git a/django_unicorn/errors.py b/django_unicorn/errors.py
index d15ba0c6..377542c4 100644
--- a/django_unicorn/errors.py
+++ b/django_unicorn/errors.py
@@ -12,3 +12,11 @@ class ComponentLoadError(Exception):
 
 class RenderNotModified(Exception):
     pass
+
+
+class MissingComponentElement(Exception):
+    pass
+
+
+class MissingComponentViewElement(Exception):
+    pass
diff --git a/django_unicorn/views/__init__.py b/django_unicorn/views/__init__.py
index 8839c83f..5a14c2c9 100644
--- a/django_unicorn/views/__init__.py
+++ b/django_unicorn/views/__init__.py
@@ -157,7 +157,8 @@ def _process_component_request(
         else:
             component.validate(model_names=list(updated_data.keys()))
 
-    rendered_component = component.render()
+    # Pass the current request so that it can be used inside the component template
+    rendered_component = component.render(request=request)
     component.rendered(rendered_component)
 
     cache = caches[get_cache_alias()]
diff --git a/tests/components/test_unicorn_template_response.py b/tests/components/test_unicorn_template_response.py
index e0f63332..acc64417 100644
--- a/tests/components/test_unicorn_template_response.py
+++ b/tests/components/test_unicorn_template_response.py
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
     UnicornTemplateResponse,
     get_root_element,
 )
+from django_unicorn.errors import MissingComponentElement, MissingComponentViewElement
 
 
 def test_get_root_element():
@@ -43,12 +44,33 @@ def test_get_root_element_no_element():
     component_html = "\n"
     soup = BeautifulSoup(component_html, features="html.parser")
 
-    with pytest.raises(Exception):
+    with pytest.raises(MissingComponentElement):
         actual = get_root_element(soup)
 
         assert str(actual) == expected
 
 
+def test_get_root_element_direct_view():
+    # Annoyingly beautifulsoup adds a blank string on the attribute
+    expected = '<div unicorn:view="">test</div>'
+
+    component_html = (
+        "<html><head>        <style>
          .commit-tease,
          .user-profile-mini-avatar,
          .avatar,
          .vcard-details,
          .signup-prompt-bg {
            display: none !IMPORTANT;
          }
        </style>
         <script>
          document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
            this.querySelectorAll('a').forEach(anchor => {
              anchor.addEventListener('click', e => {
                e.preventDefault();

                const redact = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('redact');
                const hasExistingParams = anchor.href.includes('?');
                window.location.href = anchor.href + (hasExistingParams ? `&redact=${redact}` : `?redact=${redact}`);
              });
            });
          });
        </script>
 </head>≤body><div unicorn:view>test</div></body></html>"
+    )
+    soup = BeautifulSoup(component_html, features="html.parser")
+    actual = get_root_element(soup)
+
+    assert str(actual) == expected
+
+
+def test_get_root_element_direct_view_no_view():
+    component_html = "<html><head>        <style>
          .commit-tease,
          .user-profile-mini-avatar,
          .avatar,
          .vcard-details,
          .signup-prompt-bg {
            display: none !IMPORTANT;
          }
        </style>
         <script>
          document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', function() {
            this.querySelectorAll('a').forEach(anchor => {
              anchor.addEventListener('click', e => {
                e.preventDefault();

                const redact = new URLSearchParams(window.location.search).get('redact');
                const hasExistingParams = anchor.href.includes('?');
                window.location.href = anchor.href + (hasExistingParams ? `&redact=${redact}` : `?redact=${redact}`);
              });
            });
          });
        </script>
 </head>≤body><div>test</div></body></html>"
+    soup = BeautifulSoup(component_html, features="html.parser")
+
+    with pytest.raises(MissingComponentViewElement):
+        get_root_element(soup)
+
+
 def test_desoupify():
     html = "<div>&lt;a&gt;&lt;style&gt;@keyframes x{}&lt;/style&gt;&lt;a style=&quot;animation-name:x&quot; onanimationend=&quot;alert(1)&quot;&gt;&lt;/a&gt;!\n</div>\n\n<script type=\"application/javascript\">\n  window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {\n    Unicorn.addEventListener('updated', (component) => console.log('got updated', component));\n  });\n</script>"
     expected = "<div>&lt;a&gt;&lt;style&gt;@keyframes x{}&lt;/style&gt;&lt;a style=\"animation-name:x\" onanimationend=\"alert(1)\"&gt;&lt;/a&gt;!\n</div>\n<script type=\"application/javascript\">\n  window.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', (event) => {\n    Unicorn.addEventListener('updated', (component) => console.log('got updated', component));\n  });\n</script>"
diff --git a/tests/templatetags/test_unicorn_render.py b/tests/templatetags/test_unicorn_render.py
index 1ae99967..99a36c08 100644
--- a/tests/templatetags/test_unicorn_render.py
+++ b/tests/templatetags/test_unicorn_render.py
@@ -1,7 +1,6 @@
 import re
 
-from django.http.request import HttpRequest
-from django.template import Context, RequestContext
+from django.template import Context
 from django.template.base import Token, TokenType
 
 import pytest