diff --git a/src/runtime/stack.c b/src/runtime/stack.c
index 0e78663c..39321964 100644
--- a/src/runtime/stack.c
+++ b/src/runtime/stack.c
@@ -142,8 +142,12 @@ static StackNode *stack_node_new(StackNode *previous_node, const Subtree *subtre
     if (subtree) {
       node->error_cost += subtree->error_cost;
       node->position = length_add(node->position, ts_subtree_total_size(subtree));
-      node->dynamic_precedence += subtree->dynamic_precedence;
-      if (!subtree->extra) node->node_count += subtree->node_count;
+      if (subtree->child_count) {
+        node->node_count += subtree->node_count;
+        node->dynamic_precedence += subtree->dynamic_precedence;
+      } else {
+        node->node_count++;
+      }
     }
   } else {
     node->position = length_zero();
@@ -162,6 +166,7 @@ static bool stack__subtree_is_equivalent(const Subtree *left, const Subtree *rig
      ((left->error_cost > 0 && right->error_cost > 0) ||
       (left->padding.bytes == right->padding.bytes &&
        left->size.bytes == right->size.bytes &&
+       left->child_count == right->child_count &&
        left->extra == right->extra &&
        ts_subtree_external_scanner_state_eq(left, right))));
 }
@@ -177,7 +182,10 @@ static void stack_node_add_link(StackNode *self, StackLink link, SubtreePool *su
       // the special case where two links directly connect the same pair of nodes,
       // we can safely remove the ambiguity ahead of time without changing behavior.
       if (existing_link->node == link.node) {
-        if (link.subtree->dynamic_precedence > existing_link->subtree->dynamic_precedence) {
+        if (
+          link.subtree->child_count > 0 &&
+          link.subtree->dynamic_precedence > existing_link->subtree->dynamic_precedence
+        ) {
           ts_subtree_retain(link.subtree);
           ts_subtree_release(subtree_pool, existing_link->subtree);
           existing_link->subtree = link.subtree;
@@ -205,15 +213,21 @@ static void stack_node_add_link(StackNode *self, StackLink link, SubtreePool *su
   if (self->link_count == MAX_LINK_COUNT) return;
 
   stack_node_retain(link.node);
-  if (link.subtree) ts_subtree_retain(link.subtree);
+  unsigned node_count = link.node->node_count;
+  int dynamic_precedence = link.node->dynamic_precedence;
   self->links[self->link_count++] = link;
 
-  unsigned node_count = link.node->node_count;
-  if (link.subtree) node_count += link.subtree->node_count;
-  if (node_count > self->node_count) self->node_count = node_count;
+  if (link.subtree) {
+    ts_subtree_retain(link.subtree);
+    if (link.subtree->child_count > 0) {
+      node_count += link.subtree->node_count;
+      dynamic_precedence += link.subtree->dynamic_precedence;
+    } else {
+      node_count++;
+    }
+  }
 
-  int dynamic_precedence = link.node->dynamic_precedence;
-  if (link.subtree) dynamic_precedence += link.subtree->dynamic_precedence;
+  if (node_count > self->node_count) self->node_count = node_count;
   if (dynamic_precedence > self->dynamic_precedence) self->dynamic_precedence = dynamic_precedence;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/runtime/subtree.c b/src/runtime/subtree.c
index 08d4aca7..6ba8dcfa 100644
--- a/src/runtime/subtree.c
+++ b/src/runtime/subtree.c
@@ -171,8 +171,6 @@ Subtree *ts_subtree_new_leaf(SubtreePool *pool, TSSymbol symbol, Length padding,
   result->ref_count = 1;
   result->bytes_scanned = 0;
   result->error_cost = 0;
-  result->node_count = 0;
-  result->dynamic_precedence = 0;
   result->child_count = 0;
   result->is_small = is_small;
   result->visible = metadata.visible;
@@ -336,8 +334,13 @@ void ts_subtree_set_children(Subtree *self, const Subtree **children, uint32_t c
     if (child->symbol != ts_builtin_sym_error_repeat) {
       self->error_cost += child->error_cost;
     }
-    self->dynamic_precedence += child->dynamic_precedence;
-    self->node_count += child->node_count;
+
+    if (child->child_count > 0) {
+      self->dynamic_precedence += child->dynamic_precedence;
+      self->node_count += child->node_count;
+    } else {
+      self->node_count++;
+    }
 
     if (alias_sequence && alias_sequence[non_extra_index] != 0 && !child->extra) {
       self->visible_child_count++;
diff --git a/src/runtime/subtree.h b/src/runtime/subtree.h
index 1a766f4f..3b0a2da8 100644
--- a/src/runtime/subtree.h
+++ b/src/runtime/subtree.h
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ extern TSStateId TS_TREE_STATE_NONE;
 typedef struct {
   union {
     char *long_data;
-    char short_data[16];
+    char short_data[24];
   };
   uint32_t length;
 } ExternalScannerState;
@@ -25,14 +25,18 @@ typedef struct {
 typedef struct Subtree Subtree;
 
 struct Subtree {
+  volatile uint32_t ref_count;
   Length padding;
   Length size;
-  volatile uint32_t ref_count;
   uint32_t bytes_scanned;
   uint32_t error_cost;
-  uint32_t node_count;
-  int32_t dynamic_precedence;
   uint32_t child_count;
+  TSSymbol symbol;
+  TSStateId parse_state;
+  struct {
+    TSSymbol symbol;
+    TSLexMode lex_mode;
+  } first_leaf;
 
   bool is_small : 1;
   bool visible : 1;
@@ -44,12 +48,6 @@ struct Subtree {
   bool has_external_tokens : 1;
   bool is_missing : 1;
   bool is_keyword : 1;
-  TSSymbol symbol;
-  TSStateId parse_state;
-  struct {
-    TSSymbol symbol;
-    TSLexMode lex_mode;
-  } first_leaf;
 
   union {
     // Non-terminal subtrees (`child_count > 0`)
@@ -57,11 +55,13 @@ struct Subtree {
       const Subtree **children;
       uint32_t visible_child_count;
       uint32_t named_child_count;
+      uint32_t node_count;
       uint32_t repeat_depth;
+      int32_t dynamic_precedence;
       uint16_t alias_sequence_id;
     };
 
-    // Normal terminal subtrees (`child_count == 0 && symbol != ts_builtin_sym_error`)
+    // External terminal subtrees (`child_count == 0 && has_external_tokens`)
     ExternalScannerState external_scanner_state;
 
     // Error terminal subtrees (`child_count == 0 && symbol == ts_builtin_sym_error`)