diff --git a/.changeset/lovely-toys-reflect.md b/.changeset/lovely-toys-reflect.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3558c855
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.changeset/lovely-toys-reflect.md
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+---
+"@chialab/dna": patch
+---
+
+Fix render cycle cleanup.
diff --git a/src/render.ts b/src/render.ts
index 77eb8492..a5a7cd71 100644
--- a/src/render.ts
+++ b/src/render.ts
@@ -670,7 +670,11 @@ export const internalRender = (
     }
 
     while (currentIndex <= --end) {
-        context.node.removeChild(contextChildren.splice(end, 1)[0].node);
+        const [child] = contextChildren.splice(end, 1);
+        const parentNode = child.node.parentNode;
+        if (parentNode === context.node || (realm?.open && parentNode === realm.node && realm.root === context.node)) {
+            context.node.removeChild(child.node);
+        }
     }
 
     return contextChildren;