diff --git a/code.go b/code.go
index 8b1d704..672132a 100644
--- a/code.go
+++ b/code.go
@@ -138,12 +138,12 @@ func (l line) qualify(imports *Imports) {
 	for i := range l.args {
 		switch a := l.args[i].(type) {
 		case Package:
-			p := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(a)
+			p := imports.registerPackage(a)
 			if p != a.Name {
 				l.args[i] = Package{Name: p, ImportPath: a.ImportPath}
 			}
 		case *Package:
-			p := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(*a)
+			p := imports.registerPackage(*a)
 			if p != a.Name {
 				l.args[i] = Package{Name: p, ImportPath: a.ImportPath}
 			}
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ func (l line) qualify(imports *Imports) {
 			}
 		case *types.Package:
 			p := PackageForGoType(a)
-			l.args[i] = imports.RegisterImportForPackage(p)
+			l.args[i] = imports.registerPackage(p)
 		}
 	}
 }
diff --git a/imports.go b/imports.go
index f36415a..6a159ae 100644
--- a/imports.go
+++ b/imports.go
@@ -39,6 +39,17 @@ func (i *Imports) RegisterImportForPackage(pkg Package) string {
 	return i.RegisterImport(pkg.ImportPath, pkg.Name)
 }
 
+// registerPackage is like RegisterImportForPackage, but instead of returning
+// the prefix (which includes a trailing dot if non-empty), it just returns the
+// package alias.
+func (i *Imports) registerPackage(pkg Package) string {
+	p := i.RegisterImportForPackage(pkg)
+	if len(p) > 0 && p[len(p)-1] == '.' {
+		p = p[:len(p)-1]
+	}
+	return p
+}
+
 // RegisterImport "imports" the specified package and returns the package prefix
 // to use for symbols in the imported package. It is safe to import the same
 // package repeatedly -- the same prefix will be returned every time. If an
diff --git a/templates.go b/templates.go
index fb6df3a..c0f8302 100644
--- a/templates.go
+++ b/templates.go
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 	switch data.Kind() {
 	case reflect.Interface:
 		if data.Elem().IsValid() {
+			qualified := true
 			var newRv reflect.Value
 			switch d := data.Interface().(type) {
 			case TypeName:
@@ -44,20 +45,25 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 				}
 			case *types.Package:
 				origP := PackageForGoType(d)
-				newP := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(origP)
+				newP := imports.registerPackage(origP)
 				if newP != origP.Name {
 					newRv = reflect.ValueOf(Package{Name: newP, ImportPath: origP.ImportPath})
 				}
+			default:
+				qualified = false
 			}
 
-			if newRv.IsValid() && newRv.Type().Implements(data.Type()) {
-				// For TypeName, this should always be true; but for cases
-				// where we've changed the type of the value, if we try to
-				// return an incompatible type, the result will be a panic
-				// with a location and message that is not awesome for
-				// users of this package. So we'll ignore the new value if
-				// it's not the right type.
-				return newRv, true
+			if qualified {
+				if newRv.IsValid() && newRv.Type().Implements(data.Type()) {
+					// For TypeName, this should always be true; but for cases
+					// where we've changed the type of the value, if we try to
+					// return an incompatible type, the result will be a panic
+					// with a location and message that is not awesome for
+					// users of this package. So we'll ignore the new value if
+					// it's not the right type.
+					return newRv, true
+				}
+				return data, false
 			}
 
 			return qualifyTemplateData(imports, data.Elem())
@@ -66,7 +72,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 	case reflect.Struct:
 		switch t := data.Interface().(type) {
 		case Package:
-			p := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(t)
+			p := imports.registerPackage(t)
 			if p != t.Name {
 				return reflect.ValueOf(&Package{Name: p, ImportPath: t.ImportPath}).Elem(), true
 			}
@@ -89,7 +95,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 		case ConstSpec:
 			if t.parent != nil {
 				oldPkg := t.parent.PackageName
-				newPkg := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(t.parent.Package())
+				newPkg := imports.registerPackage(t.parent.Package())
 				if newPkg != oldPkg {
 					newCs := t
 					newCs.parent = &GoFile{PackageName: newPkg}
@@ -99,7 +105,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 		case VarSpec:
 			if t.parent != nil {
 				oldPkg := t.parent.PackageName
-				newPkg := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(t.parent.Package())
+				newPkg := imports.registerPackage(t.parent.Package())
 				if newPkg != oldPkg {
 					newVs := t
 					newVs.parent = &GoFile{PackageName: newPkg}
@@ -109,7 +115,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 		case TypeSpec:
 			if t.parent != nil {
 				oldPkg := t.parent.PackageName
-				newPkg := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(t.parent.Package())
+				newPkg := imports.registerPackage(t.parent.Package())
 				if newPkg != oldPkg {
 					newTs := t
 					newTs.parent = &GoFile{PackageName: newPkg}
@@ -119,7 +125,7 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 		case FuncSpec:
 			if t.parent != nil {
 				oldPkg := t.parent.PackageName
-				newPkg := imports.RegisterImportForPackage(t.parent.Package())
+				newPkg := imports.registerPackage(t.parent.Package())
 				if newPkg != oldPkg {
 					newFs := t
 					newFs.parent = &GoFile{PackageName: newPkg}
@@ -141,7 +147,16 @@ func qualifyTemplateData(imports *Imports, data reflect.Value) (reflect.Value, b
 		default:
 			var newStruct reflect.Value
 			for i := 0; i < data.NumField(); i++ {
-				newV, changedV := qualifyTemplateData(imports, data.Field(i))
+				var newV reflect.Value
+				var changedV bool
+				fld, ok := getField(data, i)
+				if !ok {
+					// do not recurse
+					newV = data.Field(i)
+					changedV = false
+				} else {
+					newV, changedV = qualifyTemplateData(imports, fld)
+				}
 				if newStruct.IsValid() {
 					newStruct.Field(i).Set(newV)
 				} else if changedV {
diff --git a/templates_no_unsafe.go b/templates_no_unsafe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..a7d9769
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates_no_unsafe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+//+build appengine gopherjs purego
+// NB: other environments where unsafe is unappropriate should use "purego" build tag
+// https://github.com/golang/go/issues/23172
+
+package gopoet
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+)
+
+func getField(v reflect.Value, index int) (reflect.Value, bool) {
+	fld := v.Field(index)
+	// We can't use unsafe, so return false for unexported fields :(
+	return fld, !fld.IsValid() || fld.CanInterface()
+}
diff --git a/templates_unsafe.go b/templates_unsafe.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..df1d609
--- /dev/null
+++ b/templates_unsafe.go
@@ -0,0 +1,25 @@
+//+build !appengine,!gopherjs,!purego
+// NB: other environments where unsafe is unappropriate should use "purego" build tag
+// https://github.com/golang/go/issues/23172
+
+package gopoet
+
+import (
+	"reflect"
+	"unsafe"
+)
+
+func getField(v reflect.Value, index int) (reflect.Value, bool) {
+	fld := v.Field(index)
+	if !fld.IsValid() || fld.CanInterface() {
+		return fld, true
+	}
+
+	// NB: We are being super-sneaky. Go reflection will not let us call
+	// fld.Interface() if fld was obtained via unexported fields (which it
+	// was!). So we use unsafe to create an alternate reflect.Value instance
+	// that represents the same value (same type and address). We can then
+	// call Interface() on *that*.
+	val := reflect.NewAt(fld.Type(), unsafe.Pointer(fld.UnsafeAddr())).Elem()
+	return val, true
+}