diff --git a/src/js/models/marker.js b/src/js/models/marker.js
index febdb6345..fcf281cef 100644
--- a/src/js/models/marker.js
+++ b/src/js/models/marker.js
@@ -25,19 +25,12 @@ const Marker = class Marker {
   }
 
   addMarkup(markup) {
-    // simple markup, no attributes
-    if (typeof markup === 'string') {
-      markup = {tagName: markup};
-    }
-    let {tagName, attributes} = markup;
-    tagName = tagName.toLowerCase();
+    const {tagName} = markup;
 
     if (MARKUP_TAG_NAMES.indexOf(tagName) === -1) {
       throw new Error(`Cannot add markup of tagName ${tagName}`);
     }
 
-    markup = {tagName, attributes};
-
     if (!this.hasMarkup(tagName)) {
       this.markups.push(markup);
     }
diff --git a/src/js/models/markup.js b/src/js/models/markup.js
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..8e75f2a15
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/js/models/markup.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+const MARKUP_TYPE = 'markup';
+
+export default class Markup {
+  constructor(tagName, attributes={}) {
+    this.tagName = tagName.toLowerCase();
+    this.attributes = attributes;
+    this.type = MARKUP_TYPE;
+  }
+}
diff --git a/src/js/parsers/section.js b/src/js/parsers/section.js
index 1a73ece3f..70ff0a869 100644
--- a/src/js/parsers/section.js
+++ b/src/js/parsers/section.js
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ import {
 } from 'content-kit-editor/models/section';
 
 import Marker from 'content-kit-editor/models/marker';
+import Markup from 'content-kit-editor/models/markup';
 import { MARKUP_TAG_NAMES } from 'content-kit-editor/models/marker';
 import { getAttributes } from 'content-kit-editor/utils/dom-utils';
 import { forEach } from 'content-kit-editor/utils/array-utils';
@@ -99,10 +100,7 @@ export default {
     const tagName = element.tagName.toLowerCase();
     if (MARKUP_TAG_NAMES.indexOf(tagName) === -1) { return null; }
 
-    return {
-      tagName: tagName,
-      attributes: getAttributes(element)
-    };
+    return new Markup(tagName, getAttributes(element));
   },
 
   sectionTagNameFromElement(element) {
diff --git a/tests/unit/models/marker-test.js b/tests/unit/models/marker-test.js
index 45d88f19f..e8017829d 100644
--- a/tests/unit/models/marker-test.js
+++ b/tests/unit/models/marker-test.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 const {module, test} = QUnit;
 
 import Marker from 'content-kit-editor/models/marker';
+import Markup from 'content-kit-editor/models/markup';
 
 module('Unit: Marker');
 
@@ -28,22 +29,22 @@ test('a marker can truncated to an offset', (assert) => {
 
 test('a marker can have a markup applied to it', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi there!');
-  m1.addMarkup('b');
+  m1.addMarkup(new Markup('b'));
 
   assert.ok(m1.hasMarkup('b'));
 });
 
 test('a marker cannot have the same markup tagName applied twice', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi there!');
-  m1.addMarkup('b');
-  m1.addMarkup('b');
+  m1.addMarkup(new Markup('b'));
+  m1.addMarkup(new Markup('b'));
 
   assert.equal(m1.markups.length, 1, 'markup only applied once');
 });
 
 test('a marker can have a complex markup applied to it', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi there!');
-  const markup = {tagName: 'a', attributes:{href:'blah'}};
+  const markup = new Markup('a', {href:'blah'});
   m1.addMarkup(markup);
 
   assert.ok(m1.hasMarkup('a'));
@@ -52,8 +53,8 @@ test('a marker can have a complex markup applied to it', (assert) => {
 
 test('a marker cannot have the same complex markup tagName applied twice, even with different attributes', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi there!');
-  const markup1 = {tagName: 'a', attributes:{href:'blah'}};
-  const markup2 = {tagName: 'a', attributes:{href:'blah2'}};
+  const markup1 = new Markup('a', {href:'blah'});
+  const markup2 = new Markup('a', {href:'blah2'});
   m1.addMarkup(markup1);
   m1.addMarkup(markup2);
 
@@ -64,9 +65,9 @@ test('a marker cannot have the same complex markup tagName applied twice, even w
 
 test('a marker can be joined to another', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi');
-  m1.addMarkup('b');
+  m1.addMarkup(new Markup('b'));
   const m2 = new Marker(' there!');
-  m2.addMarkup('i');
+  m2.addMarkup(new Markup('i'));
 
   const m3 = m1.join(m2);
   assert.equal(m3.value, 'hi there!');
@@ -76,7 +77,7 @@ test('a marker can be joined to another', (assert) => {
 
 test('a marker can be split into two', (assert) => {
   const m1 = new Marker('hi there!');
-  m1.addMarkup('b');
+  m1.addMarkup(new Markup('b'));
 
   const [_m1, m2] = m1.split(5);
   assert.ok(_m1.hasMarkup('b') && m2.hasMarkup('b'),
diff --git a/tests/unit/models/section-test.js b/tests/unit/models/section-test.js
index b67c6401a..dba96fa70 100644
--- a/tests/unit/models/section-test.js
+++ b/tests/unit/models/section-test.js
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@ const {module, test} = QUnit;
 
 import Section from 'content-kit-editor/models/section';
 import Marker from 'content-kit-editor/models/marker';
+import Markup from 'content-kit-editor/models/markup';
 
 module('Unit: Section');
 
@@ -78,7 +79,7 @@ test('#markerContaining finds the marker at the given offset when multiple marke
 });
 
 test('a section can be split, splitting its markers', (assert) => {
-  const m = new Marker('hi there!', ['b']);
+  const m = new Marker('hi there!', [new Markup('b')]);
   const s = new Section('p', [m]);
 
   const [s1, s2] = s.split(5);