diff --git a/src/client.rs b/src/client.rs
index 2a35ce7..5f28806 100644
--- a/src/client.rs
+++ b/src/client.rs
@@ -141,11 +141,11 @@ impl Client {
                     auth.extend(self.jid.node.as_ref().expect("JID has no node").bytes());
                     auth.push(0);
                     auth.extend(password.bytes());
-                    let mut elem = Element::builder("auth")
-                                           .ns(ns::SASL)
-                                           .attr("mechanism", "PLAIN")
-                                           .build();
-                    elem.append_text_node(base64::encode(&auth));
+                    let elem = Element::builder("auth")
+                                       .text(base64::encode(&auth))
+                                       .ns(ns::SASL)
+                                       .attr("mechanism", "PLAIN")
+                                       .build();
                     self.transport.write_element(&elem)?;
                     did_sasl = true;
                 }
diff --git a/src/plugins/presence.rs b/src/plugins/presence.rs
index 4dc9ca4..084189e 100644
--- a/src/plugins/presence.rs
+++ b/src/plugins/presence.rs
@@ -75,10 +75,10 @@ impl PresencePlugin {
                                      .ns(ns::CLIENT)
                                      .build();
             if let Some(stat) = status {
-                let mut elem = Element::builder("status")
-                                       .ns(ns::CLIENT)
-                                       .build();
-                elem.append_text_node(stat);
+                let elem = Element::builder("status")
+                                   .ns(ns::CLIENT)
+                                   .text(stat)
+                                   .build();
                 stanza.append_child(elem);
             }
             let mut elem = Element::builder("show")