diff --git a/examples/georss-serialize.html b/examples/georss-serialize.html
index f6f11407fa..985ffed1c7 100644
--- a/examples/georss-serialize.html
+++ b/examples/georss-serialize.html
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
             feature.attributes['title'] = name;
             s = new XMLSerializer();
             var data = g.write(feature.layer.features);
-            $("gml").value = s.serializeToString(data);
+            OpenLayers.Util.getElement("gml").value = s.serializeToString(data);
         }
         function init(){
             g = new OpenLayers.Format.GeoRSS();
diff --git a/examples/gml-serialize.html b/examples/gml-serialize.html
index 69383b0b21..98bdffa9ca 100644
--- a/examples/gml-serialize.html
+++ b/examples/gml-serialize.html
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@
             feature.attributes['name'] = name;
             s = new XMLSerializer();
             var data = g.write(feature.layer.features);
-            $("gml").value = s.serializeToString(data);
+            OpenLayers.Util.getElement("gml").value = s.serializeToString(data);
         }
         function init(){
             g = new OpenLayers.Format.GML();
diff --git a/examples/openmnnd.html b/examples/openmnnd.html
index 03d22748e4..f5aee4eb18 100644
--- a/examples/openmnnd.html
+++ b/examples/openmnnd.html
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@
             wfs.preFeatureInsert= function(feature) { feature.style.strokeWidth="3"; feature.style.strokeColor="blue";  
             }
             wfs.onFeatureInsert = function() {
-              $('stream_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length;
+              OpenLayers.Util.getElement('stream_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length;
             }  
             map.addLayer(wfs);
             
@@ -52,7 +52,7 @@
               });
             
             pwfs.onFeatureInsert= function(feature) { 
-              $('plat_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length;
+              OpenLayers.Util.getElement('plat_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length;
             }
             map.addLayer(pwfs); 
             
@@ -62,15 +62,15 @@
               {ratio:1.25, minZoomLevel:7, extractAttributes: true, style:rstyle});
             
             rwfs.onFeatureInsert= function(feature) {  
-              $('road_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length; 
+              OpenLayers.Util.getElement('road_features').innerHTML = feature.layer.features.length; 
             }
             
             map.addLayer(rwfs); 
             
             map.events.register('moveend', null, function() { 
-                $('stream_features').innerHTML = "0";
-                $('road_features').innerHTML = "0";
-                $('plat_features').innerHTML = "0";
+                OpenLayers.Util.getElement('stream_features').innerHTML = "0";
+                OpenLayers.Util.getElement('road_features').innerHTML = "0";
+                OpenLayers.Util.getElement('plat_features').innerHTML = "0";
             });    
 
             var ls = new OpenLayers.Control.LayerSwitcher();
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@
             for(var i in feature.attributes)
                html += "<li><b>" + i + "</b>: "+  feature.attributes[i] + "</li>";
             html += "</ul>";
-            $('feature_info').innerHTML = html;
+            OpenLayers.Util.getElement('feature_info').innerHTML = html;
         }
         // -->
     </script>
diff --git a/examples/wfs-scribble.html b/examples/wfs-scribble.html
index ba7ff019ba..7afc6d672d 100644
--- a/examples/wfs-scribble.html
+++ b/examples/wfs-scribble.html
@@ -56,8 +56,8 @@
             var xmls = new XMLSerializer();
             var serialize = new OpenLayers.Format[type]({},map.layers[1]);
             var data = serialize.write(map.layers[1].features);
-            $('serialize').value = xmls.serializeToString(data);
-            $('serialize').style.display='block';
+            OpenLayers.Util.getElement('serialize').value = xmls.serializeToString(data);
+            OpenLayers.Util.getElement('serialize').style.display='block';
         }
     </script>
   </head>
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer.js
index 4c8796724e..84ba350de0 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer.js
@@ -59,7 +59,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.prototype =
      * containerID - {<String>} 
      */
     initialize: function(containerID) {
-        this.container = $(containerID);
+        this.container = OpenLayers.Util.getElement(containerID);
     },
     
     /**
diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/Elements.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/Elements.js
index 9058fc29e5..3bf38ceaa9 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/Elements.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Renderer/Elements.js
@@ -313,7 +313,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements.prototype =
                 this.eraseGeometry(geometry.components[i]);
             }
         } else {    
-            var element = $(geometry.id);
+            var element = OpenLayers.Util.getElement(geometry.id);
             if (element && element.parentNode) {
                 if (element.geometry) {
                     element.geometry.destroy();
@@ -340,7 +340,7 @@ OpenLayers.Renderer.Elements.prototype =
      * {DOMElement} A new node of the given type and id
      */
     nodeFactory: function(id, type, geometry) {
-        var node = $(id);
+        var node = OpenLayers.Util.getElement(id);
         if (node) {
             if (!this.nodeTypeCompare(node, type)) {
                 node.parentNode.removeChild(node);