diff --git a/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js b/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
index 76e589dba182..27eff176360f 100644
--- a/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
+++ b/src/ng/directive/ngRepeat.js
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ var ngRepeatDirective = ['$parse', '$animate', function($parse, $animate) {
 
               if (getBlockStart(block) != nextNode) {
                 // existing item which got moved
-                $animate.move(getBlockNodes(block.clone), null, jqLite(previousNode));
+                $animate.move(getBlockNodes(block.clone), null, previousNode);
               }
               previousNode = getBlockEnd(block);
               updateScope(block.scope, index, valueIdentifier, value, keyIdentifier, key, collectionLength);
@@ -527,8 +527,7 @@ var ngRepeatDirective = ['$parse', '$animate', function($parse, $animate) {
                 var endNode = ngRepeatEndComment.cloneNode(false);
                 clone[clone.length++] = endNode;
 
-                // TODO(perf): support naked previousNode in `enter` to avoid creation of jqLite wrapper?
-                $animate.enter(clone, null, jqLite(previousNode));
+                $animate.enter(clone, null, previousNode);
                 previousNode = endNode;
                 // Note: We only need the first/last node of the cloned nodes.
                 // However, we need to keep the reference to the jqlite wrapper as it might be changed later
diff --git a/src/ngAnimate/animateQueue.js b/src/ngAnimate/animateQueue.js
index 7f4da4bdc4b9..146e538a1508 100644
--- a/src/ngAnimate/animateQueue.js
+++ b/src/ngAnimate/animateQueue.js
@@ -585,30 +585,31 @@ var $$AnimateQueueProvider = ['$animateProvider', function($animateProvider) {
       var animateChildren;
       var elementDisabled = disabledElementsLookup.get(getDomNode(element));
 
-      var parentHost = element.data(NG_ANIMATE_PIN_DATA);
+      var parentHost = jqLite.data(element[0], NG_ANIMATE_PIN_DATA);
       if (parentHost) {
         parentElement = parentHost;
       }
 
-      while (parentElement && parentElement.length) {
+      parentElement = getDomNode(parentElement);
+
+      while (parentElement) {
         if (!rootElementDetected) {
           // angular doesn't want to attempt to animate elements outside of the application
           // therefore we need to ensure that the rootElement is an ancestor of the current element
           rootElementDetected = isMatchingElement(parentElement, $rootElement);
         }
 
-        var parentNode = parentElement[0];
-        if (parentNode.nodeType !== ELEMENT_NODE) {
+        if (parentElement.nodeType !== ELEMENT_NODE) {
           // no point in inspecting the #document element
           break;
         }
 
-        var details = activeAnimationsLookup.get(parentNode) || {};
+        var details = activeAnimationsLookup.get(parentElement) || {};
         // either an enter, leave or move animation will commence
         // therefore we can't allow any animations to take place
         // but if a parent animation is class-based then that's ok
         if (!parentAnimationDetected) {
-          var parentElementDisabled = disabledElementsLookup.get(parentNode);
+          var parentElementDisabled = disabledElementsLookup.get(parentElement);
 
           if (parentElementDisabled === true && elementDisabled !== false) {
             // disable animations if the user hasn't explicitly enabled animations on the
@@ -623,7 +624,7 @@ var $$AnimateQueueProvider = ['$animateProvider', function($animateProvider) {
         }
 
         if (isUndefined(animateChildren) || animateChildren === true) {
-          var value = parentElement.data(NG_ANIMATE_CHILDREN_DATA);
+          var value = jqLite.data(parentElement, NG_ANIMATE_CHILDREN_DATA);
           if (isDefined(value)) {
             animateChildren = value;
           }
@@ -646,15 +647,15 @@ var $$AnimateQueueProvider = ['$animateProvider', function($animateProvider) {
 
         if (!rootElementDetected) {
           // If no rootElement is detected, check if the parentElement is pinned to another element
-          parentHost = parentElement.data(NG_ANIMATE_PIN_DATA);
+          parentHost = jqLite.data(parentElement, NG_ANIMATE_PIN_DATA);
           if (parentHost) {
             // The pin target element becomes the next parent element
-            parentElement = parentHost;
+            parentElement = getDomNode(parentHost);
             continue;
           }
         }
 
-        parentElement = parentElement.parent();
+        parentElement = parentElement.parentNode;
       }
 
       var allowAnimation = (!parentAnimationDetected || animateChildren) && elementDisabled !== true;