diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xml/Element.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xml/Element.java
index d70e45ef6093e330bf8d352eb8cd562ba194c102..3b5d87882b42b5c911c66ca69eda5ce00b19ab6d 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xml/Element.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xml/Element.java
@@ -134,12 +134,26 @@ public class Element implements Node {
 		return this.children;
 	}
 
+	// Deprecated: you probably want bindTo or replaceChildren
 	public Element setChildren(List<Element> children) {
 		this.childNodes = new ArrayList(children);
 		this.children = children;
 		return this;
 	}
 
+	public void replaceChildren(List<Element> children) {
+		this.childNodes.clear();
+		this.childNodes.addAll(children);
+		this.children.clear();
+		this.children.addAll(children);
+	}
+
+	public void bindTo(Element original) {
+		this.attributes = original.attributes;
+		this.childNodes = original.childNodes;
+		this.children = original.children;
+	}
+
 	public final String getContent() {
 		return this.childNodes.stream().map(Node::getContent).filter(c -> c != null).collect(Collectors.joining());
 	}
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Data.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Data.java
index 16578967586c3f98a95074274b7950c48d6b8388..01b30a211c347b16e9b15fc75ffd125c992c2d27 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Data.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Data.java
@@ -77,13 +77,12 @@ public class Data extends Element {
 	}
 
 	private void removeUnnecessaryChildren() {
-		setChildren(getChildren().stream().filter(element -> element.getName().equals("field") || element.getName().equals("title")).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+		replaceChildren(getChildren().stream().filter(element -> element.getName().equals("field") || element.getName().equals("title")).collect(Collectors.toList()));
 	}
 
 	public static Data parse(Element element) {
 		Data data = new Data();
-		data.setAttributes(element.getAttributes());
-		data.setChildren(element.getChildren());
+		data.bindTo(element);
 		return data;
 	}
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Field.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Field.java
index 6e97b552c70c2070434cf3bfd170343e62052a5c..f7a9eb355973330141483ff581363f3395b99279 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Field.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/xmpp/forms/Field.java
@@ -23,21 +23,20 @@ public class Field extends Element {
 	}
 
 	public void setValue(String value) {
-		setChildren(List.of(new Element("value").setContent(value)));
+		replaceChildren(List.of(new Element("value").setContent(value)));
 	}
 
 	public void setValues(Collection<String> values) {
-		setChildren(values.stream().map(val -> new Element("value").setContent(val)).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+		replaceChildren(values.stream().map(val -> new Element("value").setContent(val)).collect(Collectors.toList()));
 	}
 
 	public void removeNonValueChildren() {
-		setChildren(getChildren().stream().filter(element -> element.getName().equals("value")).collect(Collectors.toList()));
+		replaceChildren(getChildren().stream().filter(element -> element.getName().equals("value")).collect(Collectors.toList()));
 	}
 
 	public static Field parse(Element element) {
 		Field field = new Field();
-		field.setAttributes(element.getAttributes());
-		field.setChildren(element.getChildren());
+		field.bindTo(element);
 		return field;
 	}