diff --git a/src/xml/composite-node-observer.cpp b/src/xml/composite-node-observer.cpp
index 77a1bd2fd3ba3d31b34e04a62e9abdd2803dcdab..f2ad9118d8e79fe65d80109c614e5656027ba86d 100644
--- a/src/xml/composite-node-observer.cpp
+++ b/src/xml/composite-node-observer.cpp
@@ -113,11 +113,8 @@ void CompositeNodeObserver::notifyElementNameChanged(Node& node, GQuark old_name
 }
 
 void CompositeNodeObserver::add(NodeObserver &observer) {
-    if (_iterating) {
-        _pending.push_back(ObserverRecord(observer));
-    } else {
-        _active.push_back(ObserverRecord(observer));
-    }
+    // does not invalidate iterators
+    _active.emplace_front(observer);
 }
 
 namespace {
@@ -173,6 +170,8 @@ void CompositeNodeObserver::addListener(NodeEventVector const &vector,
                                         void *data)
 {
     Debug::EventTracker<Debug::SimpleEvent<Debug::Event::XML> > tracker("add-listener");
+    // This is a memory leak. Instead of fixing it, it might be worth refactoring all NodeEventVector
+    // (deprecated aggregate of function pointers) usage with the NodeObserver pattern.
     add(*(new VectorNodeObserver(vector, data)));
 }
 
@@ -191,7 +190,7 @@ struct unmarked_record_satisfying {
 };
 
 template <typename Predicate>
-bool mark_one(ObserverRecordList &observers, unsigned &/*marked_count*/,
+bool mark_one(ObserverRecordList &observers, unsigned &marked_count,
               Predicate p)
 {
     ObserverRecordList::iterator found=std::find_if(
@@ -200,6 +199,7 @@ bool mark_one(ObserverRecordList &observers, unsigned &/*marked_count*/,
     );
 
     if ( found != observers.end() ) {
+        ++marked_count;
         found->marked = true;
         return true;
     } else {
@@ -237,20 +237,11 @@ bool is_marked(ObserverRecord const &record) { return record.marked; }
 
 void remove_all_marked(ObserverRecordList &observers, unsigned &marked_count)
 {
-    ObserverRecordList::iterator iter;
-
-    g_assert( !observers.empty() || !marked_count );
-
-    while ( marked_count && observers.front().marked ) {
-        observers.pop_front();
-        --marked_count;
-    }
+    if (marked_count) {
+        g_assert(!observers.empty());
 
-    iter = observers.begin();
-    while (marked_count) {
-        iter = Algorithms::find_if_before(iter, observers.end(), is_marked);
-        observers.erase_after(iter);
-        --marked_count;
+        observers.remove_if(is_marked);
+        marked_count = 0;
     }
 }
 
@@ -259,9 +250,6 @@ void remove_all_marked(ObserverRecordList &observers, unsigned &marked_count)
 void CompositeNodeObserver::_finishIteration() {
     if (!--_iterating) {
         remove_all_marked(_active, _active_marked);
-        remove_all_marked(_pending, _pending_marked);
-        _active.insert(_active.end(), _pending.begin(), _pending.end());
-        _pending.clear();
     }
 }
 
@@ -280,11 +268,9 @@ struct eql_observer {
 void CompositeNodeObserver::remove(NodeObserver &observer) {
     eql_observer p(observer);
     if (_iterating) {
-        mark_one(_active, _active_marked, p) ||
-        mark_one(_pending, _pending_marked, p);
+        mark_one(_active, _active_marked, p);
     } else {
-        remove_one(_active, _active_marked, p) ||
-        remove_one(_pending, _pending_marked, p);
+        remove_one(_active, _active_marked, p);
     }
 }
 
@@ -312,11 +298,9 @@ void CompositeNodeObserver::removeListenerByData(void *data) {
     Debug::EventTracker<Debug::SimpleEvent<Debug::Event::XML> > tracker("remove-listener-by-data");
     vector_data_matches p(data);
     if (_iterating) {
-        mark_one(_active, _active_marked, p) ||
-        mark_one(_pending, _pending_marked, p);
+        mark_one(_active, _active_marked, p);
     } else {
-        remove_one(_active, _active_marked, p) ||
-        remove_one(_pending, _pending_marked, p);
+        remove_one(_active, _active_marked, p);
     }
 }
     
diff --git a/src/xml/composite-node-observer.h b/src/xml/composite-node-observer.h
index 96f1c9144b7032fce2c3d668bccebf861c2fe038..9a2f7a2a60739b2c8e7e09ec42507a8dc894dec0 100644
--- a/src/xml/composite-node-observer.h
+++ b/src/xml/composite-node-observer.h
@@ -13,9 +13,10 @@
 #ifndef SEEN_INKSCAPE_XML_COMPOSITE_NODE_OBSERVER_H
 #define SEEN_INKSCAPE_XML_COMPOSITE_NODE_OBSERVER_H
 
+#include "inkgc/gc-alloc.h"
 #include "inkgc/gc-managed.h"
 #include "xml/node-observer.h"
-#include "util/list-container.h"
+#include <forward_list>
 
 namespace Inkscape {
 
@@ -39,10 +40,11 @@ public:
         NodeObserver &observer;
         bool marked; //< if marked for removal
     };
-    typedef Util::ListContainer<ObserverRecord> ObserverRecordList;
+    typedef std::forward_list<ObserverRecord, Inkscape::GC::Alloc<ObserverRecord, Inkscape::GC::MANUAL>>
+        ObserverRecordList;
 
     CompositeNodeObserver()
-    : _iterating(0), _active_marked(0), _pending_marked(0) {}
+    : _iterating(0), _active_marked(0) {}
 
     /**
      * @brief Add an observer to the list
@@ -86,8 +88,6 @@ private:
     unsigned _iterating;
     ObserverRecordList _active;
     unsigned _active_marked;
-    ObserverRecordList _pending;
-    unsigned _pending_marked;
 
     void _startIteration() { ++_iterating; }
     void _finishIteration();