diff --git a/packages/interpreter/src/interpreter.ts b/packages/interpreter/src/interpreter.ts
index ec48f9c26..41036905b 100644
--- a/packages/interpreter/src/interpreter.ts
+++ b/packages/interpreter/src/interpreter.ts
@@ -263,7 +263,12 @@ export class Interpreter {
             }
 
             // walk the tree to find the real element
-            while (realId == null && target.parentElement != null) {
+            while (realId == null) {
+              // we've reached the root we don't want to send an event
+              if (target.parentElement === null) {
+                return;
+              }
+
               target = target.parentElement;
               realId = target.getAttribute(`data-dioxus-id`);
             }
@@ -326,7 +331,7 @@ export class Interpreter {
 
 
 
-function serialize_event(event: Event) {
+export function serialize_event(event: Event) {
   switch (event.type) {
     case "copy":
     case "cut":