 					ui.setStyle(s, styles[s]);
 				}
 			}
+
+			// TextField size sanity check
+			if (sprite.hasOwnProperty('textHeight') && sprite.textHeight) sprite.height = (sprite.textHeight + 4);
+
 			// add to display list
 			return addChild(sprite);
 		}
 
 		protected function text_field (object_name:String, property:String, attributes:Object = null, styles:Object = null) :TextField
 		{
-			var instance:* = (instance_sprite(TextField, 'htmlText', object_name, property, attributes, styles) as TextField);
-			instance.height = (instance.textHeight ? (instance.textHeight + 4) : 4);
-			return instance;
+			return (instance_sprite(TextField, 'htmlText', object_name, property, attributes, styles) as TextField);
 		}
 
 		protected function text_input (object_name:String, property:String, attributes:Object = null, styles:Object = null) :TextInput

		protected function url_request_for (absolute_path:String, subdomain:String = null) :URLRequest
		{
			return ReactionController.url_request_for(absolute_path, subdomain);
		}



		// horizontal layout helper:
		protected function hbox (options:Object, ...args) :DisplayObjectContainer
		{
			args.unshift(options);
			return box.apply(null, args);
		}

		protected function image (object_name:String, property:String, attributes:Object = null, styles:Object = null) :Image
