diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 25de227..6bb0681 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 # Changelog
 
+## 2.1.0
+
+- Remove Active Support as a dependency
+  - This now provides rudimentary support of `html_safe` mechanics. Note that
+    it does NOT handle _any_ additional String methods. It simply allows cloning a string via `html_safe` to mark it safe, and `html_safe?` to query if it's safe.
+  - This _might_ be a breaking change, but likely not if you're using Serbea along with Rails or Bridgetown. To restore previous functionality manually, just install the `activesupport` gem and `require "active_support/core_ext/string/output_safety"` before you require the Serbea gem.
+
 ## 2.0.0
 
 - Add plain ol' Ruby pipeline functionality
diff --git a/lib/serbea/helpers.rb b/lib/serbea/helpers.rb
index f4138db..d440593 100644
--- a/lib/serbea/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/serbea/helpers.rb
@@ -1,4 +1,15 @@
-require "active_support/core_ext/string/output_safety"
+unless "".respond_to?(:html_safe)
+  # The simplest HTML safety "polyfill" around
+  class String
+    def html_safe
+      self.class.new(self).tap { _1.instance_variable_set(:@html_safe, true) }
+    end
+
+    def html_safe?
+      instance_variable_get(:@html_safe) == true
+    end
+  end
+end
 
 module Serbea
   module Helpers
@@ -10,7 +21,7 @@ def capture(*args)
       previous_buffer_state = @_erbout
       @_erbout = Serbea::OutputBuffer.new
       result = yield(*args)
-      result = @_erbout.presence || result
+      result = @_erbout.empty? ? result : @_erbout
       @_erbout = previous_buffer_state
 
       Serbea::OutputBuffer === result ? result.html_safe : result
@@ -36,7 +47,7 @@ def import(*args, **kwargs, &block)
     end
 
     def h(input)
-      ERB::Util.h(input.to_s)
+      Erubi.h(input.to_s)
     end
     alias_method :escape, :h
 
diff --git a/lib/serbea/pipeline.rb b/lib/serbea/pipeline.rb
index 945aa52..ac1789c 100644
--- a/lib/serbea/pipeline.rb
+++ b/lib/serbea/pipeline.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,4 @@
 require "set"
-require "active_support/core_ext/string/output_safety"
-require "active_support/core_ext/object/blank"
 
 module Serbea
   class Pipeline
@@ -36,7 +34,7 @@ def self.exec(template, locals = {}, include_helpers: nil, **kwargs)
       full_template = "{{ #{template} | assign_to: :output }}"
 
       tmpl = Tilt::SerbeaTemplate.new { full_template }
-      tmpl.render(pipeline_obj, locals.presence || kwargs)
+      tmpl.render(pipeline_obj, locals.empty? ? kwargs : locals)
 
       pipeline_obj.output
     end
@@ -49,7 +47,7 @@ def self.output_processor=(processor)
     # @return [Proc]
     def self.output_processor
       @output_processor ||= lambda do |input|
-        (!input.html_safe? && self.autoescape) ? ERB::Util.h(input) : input.html_safe
+        (!input.html_safe? && self.autoescape) ? Erubi.h(input) : input.html_safe
       end
     end
 
diff --git a/lib/version.rb b/lib/version.rb
index f129b85..0259f11 100644
--- a/lib/version.rb
+++ b/lib/version.rb
@@ -1,3 +1,3 @@
 module Serbea
-  VERSION = "2.0.0"
+  VERSION = "2.1.0"
 end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/serbea.gemspec b/serbea.gemspec
index 3af7e33..176e14d 100644
--- a/serbea.gemspec
+++ b/serbea.gemspec
@@ -16,7 +16,6 @@ Gem::Specification.new do |spec|
   spec.files         = `git ls-files -z`.split("\x0").reject { |f| f.match(%r!^(test|script|spec|features|docs|serbea-rails)/!) }
   spec.require_paths = ["lib"]
 
-  spec.add_runtime_dependency("activesupport", ">= 6.0")
   spec.add_runtime_dependency("erubi", ">= 1.10")
   spec.add_runtime_dependency("tilt", "~> 2.0")
 
diff --git a/test/test.rb b/test/test.rb
index bbcf8de..0b6b67d 100644
--- a/test/test.rb
+++ b/test/test.rb
@@ -115,7 +115,7 @@ def content_tag(tag_name, *attrs, &block)
     processed_attrs = ""
     attrs[0].each do |key, value|
       processed_attrs << " #{key}=\"#{value}\""
-    end if attrs.present?
+    end unless attrs.empty?
 
     "<#{tag_name}#{processed_attrs}>#{content}</#{tag_name}>"
   end