diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index 1dfbd9c50..69238da66 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -87,6 +87,9 @@
   // Regular expression used to split event strings.
   var eventSplitter = /\s+/;
 
+  // A private global variable to share between listeners and listenees.
+  var _listening;
+
   // Iterates over the standard `event, callback` (as well as the fancy multiple
   // space-separated events `"change blur", callback` and jQuery-style event
   // maps `{event: callback}`), reducing them by manipulating `memo`.
@@ -96,7 +99,7 @@
     var i = 0, names;
     if (name && typeof name === 'object') {
       // Handle event maps.
-      for (names = _.keys(name); i < names.length ; i++) {
+      for (names = _.keys(name); i < names.length; i++) {
         memo = iteratee(memo, names[i], name[names[i]], opts);
       }
     } else if (name && eventSplitter.test(name)) {
@@ -113,43 +116,46 @@
   // Bind an event to a `callback` function. Passing `"all"` will bind
   // the callback to all events fired.
   Events.on = function(name, callback, context) {
-    return internalOn(this, name, callback, context);
-  };
-
-  // An internal use `on` function, used to guard the `listening` argument from
-  // the public API.
-  var internalOn = function(obj, name, callback, context, listening) {
-    obj._events = eventsApi(onApi, obj._events || {}, name, callback, {
-        context: context,
-        ctx: obj,
-        listening: listening
+    this._events = eventsApi(onApi, this._events || {}, name, callback, {
+      context: context,
+      ctx: this,
+      listening: _listening
     });
 
-    if (listening) {
-      var listeners = obj._listeners || (obj._listeners = {});
-      listeners[listening.id] = listening;
+    if (_listening) {
+      var listeners = this._listeners || (this._listeners = {});
+      listeners[_listening.id] = _listening;
+      // Allow the listening to use a counter, instead of tracking
+      // callbacks for library interop
+      _listening.backbone = true;
     }
 
-    return obj;
+    return this;
   };
 
   // Inversion-of-control versions of `on`. Tell *this* object to listen to
   // an event in another object... keeping track of what it's listening to.
-  Events.listenTo =  function(obj, name, callback) {
+  Events.listenTo = function(obj, name, callback) {
     if (!obj) return this;
     var id = obj._listenId || (obj._listenId = _.uniqueId('l'));
     var listeningTo = this._listeningTo || (this._listeningTo = {});
-    var listening = listeningTo[id];
+    var listening = _listening = listeningTo[id];
 
     // This object is not listening to any other events on `obj` yet.
     // Setup the necessary references to track the listening callbacks.
     if (!listening) {
-      var thisId = this._listenId || (this._listenId = _.uniqueId('l'));
-      listening = listeningTo[id] = {obj: obj, objId: id, id: thisId, listeningTo: listeningTo, count: 0};
+      this._listenId || (this._listenId = _.uniqueId('l'));
+      listening = _listening = listeningTo[id] = new Listening(this, obj);
     }
 
-    // Bind callbacks on obj, and keep track of them on listening.
-    internalOn(obj, name, callback, this, listening);
+    // Bind callbacks on obj.
+    var error = tryCatchOn(obj, name, callback, this);
+    _listening = void 0;
+
+    if (error) throw error;
+    // If the target obj is not Backbone.Events, track events manually.
+    if (!listening.backbone) listening.on(name, callback);
+
     return this;
   };
 
@@ -165,6 +171,16 @@
     return events;
   };
 
+  // An try-catch guarded #on function, to prevent poisoning the global
+  // `_listening` variable.
+  var tryCatchOn = function(obj, name, callback, context) {
+    try {
+      obj.on(name, callback, context);
+    } catch (e) {
+      return e;
+    }
+  };
+
   // Remove one or many callbacks. If `context` is null, removes all
   // callbacks with that function. If `callback` is null, removes all
   // callbacks for the event. If `name` is null, removes all bound
@@ -172,9 +188,10 @@
   Events.off =  function(name, callback, context) {
     if (!this._events) return this;
     this._events = eventsApi(offApi, this._events, name, callback, {
-        context: context,
-        listeners: this._listeners
+      context: context,
+      listeners: this._listeners
     });
+
     return this;
   };
 
@@ -185,7 +202,6 @@
     if (!listeningTo) return this;
 
     var ids = obj ? [obj._listenId] : _.keys(listeningTo);
-
     for (var i = 0; i < ids.length; i++) {
       var listening = listeningTo[ids[i]];
 
@@ -194,9 +210,8 @@
       if (!listening) break;
 
       listening.obj.off(name, callback, this);
+      if (!listening.backbone) listening.off(name, callback);
     }
-    if (_.isEmpty(listeningTo)) this._listeningTo = void 0;
-
     return this;
   };
 
@@ -205,16 +220,13 @@
     // No events to consider.
     if (!events) return;
 
-    var i = 0, length, listening;
     var context = options.context, listeners = options.listeners;
+    var i = 0, names;
 
-    // Delete all events listeners and "drop" events.
-    if (!name && !callback && !context) {
-      var ids = _.keys(listeners);
-      for (; i < ids.length; i++) {
-        listening = listeners[ids[i]];
-        delete listeners[listening.id];
-        delete listening.listeningTo[listening.objId];
+    // Delete all event listeners and "drop" events.
+    if (!name && !context && !callback) {
+      for (names = _.keys(listeners); i < names.length; i++) {
+        listeners[names[i]].cleanup();
       }
       return;
     }
@@ -227,7 +239,7 @@
       // Bail out if there are no events stored.
       if (!handlers) break;
 
-      // Replace events if there are any remaining.  Otherwise, clean up.
+      // Find any remaining events.
       var remaining = [];
       for (var j = 0; j < handlers.length; j++) {
         var handler = handlers[j];
@@ -238,21 +250,19 @@
         ) {
           remaining.push(handler);
         } else {
-          listening = handler.listening;
-          if (listening && --listening.count === 0) {
-            delete listeners[listening.id];
-            delete listening.listeningTo[listening.objId];
-          }
+          var listening = handler.listening;
+          if (listening) listening.off(name, callback);
         }
       }
 
-      // Update tail event if the list has any events.  Otherwise, clean up.
+      // Replace events if there are any remaining.  Otherwise, clean up.
       if (remaining.length) {
         events[name] = remaining;
       } else {
         delete events[name];
       }
     }
+
     if (_.size(events)) return events;
   };
 
@@ -327,6 +337,44 @@
     }
   };
 
+  // A listening class that tracks and cleans up memory bindings
+  // when all callbacks have been offed.
+  var Listening = function(listener, obj) {
+    this.id = listener._listenId;
+    this.listener = listener;
+    this.obj = obj;
+    this.backbone = false;
+    this.count = 0;
+    this._events = {};
+  };
+
+  Listening.prototype.on = Events.on;
+
+  // Offs a callback (or several).
+  // Uses an optimized counter if the listenee uses Backbone.Events.
+  // Otherwise, falls back to manual tracking to support events
+  // library interop.
+  Listening.prototype.off = function(name, callback) {
+    var cleanup;
+    if (this.backbone) {
+      this.count--;
+      cleanup = this.count === 0;
+    } else {
+      this._events = eventsApi(offApi, this._events, name, callback, {
+        context: void 0,
+        listeners: void 0
+      });
+      cleanup = !this._events;
+    }
+    if (cleanup) this.cleanup();
+  };
+
+  // Cleans up memory bindings between the listener and the listenee.
+  Listening.prototype.cleanup = function() {
+    delete this.listener._listeningTo[this.obj._listenId];
+    if (this.backbone) delete this.obj._listeners[this.id];
+  };
+
   // Proxy Underscore methods to a Backbone class' prototype using a
   // particular attribute as the data argument
   var addMethod = function(length, method, attribute) {