diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/internal/DocumentParser.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/internal/DocumentParser.java
index 83eaff6e7..aeab876d4 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/internal/DocumentParser.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/internal/DocumentParser.java
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@ public class DocumentParser implements ParserState {
 
     private final List<BlockParserFactory> blockParserFactories;
     private final InlineParserImpl inlineParser;
+    private final DocumentBlockParser documentBlockParser;
 
     private List<BlockParser> activeBlockParsers = new ArrayList<>();
     private Set<BlockParser> allBlockParsers = new HashSet<>();
@@ -49,6 +50,9 @@ public class DocumentParser implements ParserState {
     public DocumentParser(List<BlockParserFactory> blockParserFactories, InlineParserImpl inlineParser) {
         this.blockParserFactories = blockParserFactories;
         this.inlineParser = inlineParser;
+        
+        this.documentBlockParser = new DocumentBlockParser();
+        activateBlockParser(this.documentBlockParser);
     }
 
     public static List<BlockParserFactory> calculateBlockParserFactories(List<BlockParserFactory> customBlockParserFactories) {
@@ -62,9 +66,6 @@ public static List<BlockParserFactory> calculateBlockParserFactories(List<BlockP
      * The main parsing function. Returns a parsed document AST.
      */
     public Document parse(String input) {
-        DocumentBlockParser documentBlockParser = new DocumentBlockParser();
-        activateBlockParser(documentBlockParser);
-
         int lineStart = 0;
         int lineBreak;
         while ((lineBreak = Parsing.findLineBreak(input, lineStart)) != -1) {
@@ -80,15 +81,10 @@ public Document parse(String input) {
             incorporateLine(Substring.of(input, lineStart, input.length()));
         }
 
-        finalizeBlocks(activeBlockParsers);
-        this.processInlines();
-        return documentBlockParser.getBlock();
+        return finalizeAndProcess();
     }
     
     public Document parse(Reader input) throws IOException {
-        DocumentBlockParser documentBlockParser = new DocumentBlockParser();
-        activateBlockParser(documentBlockParser);
-
         BufferedReader bufferedReader;
         if (input instanceof BufferedReader) {
             bufferedReader = (BufferedReader) input;
@@ -101,9 +97,7 @@ public Document parse(Reader input) throws IOException {
             incorporateLine(line);
         }
 
-        finalizeBlocks(activeBlockParsers);
-        this.processInlines();
-        return documentBlockParser.getBlock();
+        return finalizeAndProcess();
     }
 
     @Override
@@ -496,6 +490,12 @@ private boolean finalizeBlocks(List<BlockParser> blockParsers) {
         return true;
     }
 
+    private Document finalizeAndProcess() {
+        finalizeBlocks(this.activeBlockParsers);
+        this.processInlines();
+        return this.documentBlockParser.getBlock();
+    }
+    
     private static class MatchedBlockParserImpl implements MatchedBlockParser {
 
         private final BlockParser matchedBlockParser;
diff --git a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/parser/Parser.java b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/parser/Parser.java
index ca4a25aad..7d46dfb0d 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/parser/Parser.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/main/java/org/commonmark/parser/Parser.java
@@ -45,22 +45,23 @@ public Node parse(String input) {
         InlineParserImpl inlineParser = new InlineParserImpl(specialCharacters, delimiterCharacters, delimiterProcessors);
         DocumentParser documentParser = new DocumentParser(blockParserFactories, inlineParser);
         Node document = documentParser.parse(input);
-        for (PostProcessor postProcessor : postProcessors) {
-            document = postProcessor.process(document);
-        }
-        return document;
+        return postProcess(document);
     }
     
-    public Node parse(Reader input) throws IOException {
+    public Node parseReader(Reader input) throws IOException {
         InlineParserImpl inlineParser = new InlineParserImpl(specialCharacters, delimiterCharacters, delimiterProcessors);
         DocumentParser documentParser = new DocumentParser(blockParserFactories, inlineParser);
         Node document = documentParser.parse(input);
+        return postProcess(document);
+    }
+
+    private Node postProcess(Node document) {
         for (PostProcessor postProcessor : postProcessors) {
             document = postProcessor.process(document);
         }
         return document;
     }
-
+    
     public static class Builder {
         private final List<BlockParserFactory> blockParserFactories = new ArrayList<>();
         private final List<DelimiterProcessor> delimiterProcessors = new ArrayList<>();
diff --git a/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/ParserTest.java b/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/ParserTest.java
index c0bffd2ba..cc2dda1fc 100644
--- a/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/ParserTest.java
+++ b/commonmark/src/test/java/org/commonmark/test/ParserTest.java
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ public void ioReaderTest() throws IOException {
         InputStream input1 = ParserTest.class.getResourceAsStream("/spec.txt");
         Node document1;
         try (InputStreamReader reader = new InputStreamReader(input1)) {
-            document1 = parser.parse(reader);
+            document1 = parser.parseReader(reader);
         }
         
         InputStream input2 = ParserTest.class.getResourceAsStream("/spec.txt");