diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 653c3e93..c644f87e 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@
 ### Others
 - Update dependencies, fixing a few bugs with templates
 - Load only .html files in themes from the templates folder
-- Background colour is set fewer times when highlighting syntaxes
+- Background colour is set fewer times when highlighting syntaxes, resulting in smaller HTML filesize
 - Link checker will not try to validate email links anymore
 - Load table and footnote markdown extensions in `markdown` filter
 - `get_url` now defaults to not adding a trailing slash
 - Fix `--base-url` not overriding processed images URLs
-- Many many times faster (x10-x40) for sites with thousands of pages
+- Many many times faster (x5-x40) for most sites
 - Add more Emacs temp file to the ignored patterns in `gutenberg serve`
 - Files starting with `.` are not considered pages anymore even if they end with `.md`
 - `_processed_images` folder for image processing has been renamed `processed_images` to avoid issues with GitHub Pages
@@ -23,6 +23,7 @@
 - Add NO_COLOR and CLICOLOR support for having colours or not in CLI output
 - Fix `robots.txt`template not being used
 - RSS feed now takes all available articles by default instead of limiting to 10000
+- `templates` directory is now optional
 
 ## 0.4.2 (2018-09-03)
 
diff --git a/Cargo.lock b/Cargo.lock
index d9762237..f969f123 100644
--- a/Cargo.lock
+++ b/Cargo.lock
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 [[package]]
 name = "actix"
-version = "0.7.4"
+version = "0.7.5"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
  "actix_derive 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -22,16 +22,43 @@ dependencies = [
  "tokio-signal 0.2.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tokio-tcp 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tokio-timer 0.2.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "trust-dns-proto 0.4.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "trust-dns-resolver 0.9.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "uuid 0.6.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "uuid 0.7.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "actix-net"
+version = "0.1.1"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "actix 0.7.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "bytes 0.4.10 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "futures 0.1.25 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "log 0.4.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "mio 0.6.16 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "net2 0.2.33 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "num_cpus 1.8.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "slab 0.4.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio 0.1.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-codec 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-current-thread 0.1.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-io 0.1.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-reactor 0.1.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-tcp 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-timer 0.2.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tower-service 0.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "trust-dns-proto 0.5.0-alpha.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "trust-dns-resolver 0.10.0-alpha.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
 name = "actix-web"
-version = "0.7.8"
+version = "0.7.12"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
- "actix 0.7.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "actix 0.7.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "actix-net 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "base64 0.9.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "bitflags 1.0.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "byteorder 1.2.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -769,7 +796,7 @@ dependencies = [
 name = "gutenberg"
 version = "0.5.0"
 dependencies = [
- "actix-web 0.7.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "actix-web 0.7.12 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "atty 0.2.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "chrono 0.4.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "clap 2.32.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -2410,9 +2437,17 @@ dependencies = [
  "serde 1.0.79 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "tower-service"
+version = "0.1.0"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "futures 0.1.25 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "trust-dns-proto"
-version = "0.4.1"
+version = "0.4.3"
 source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
 dependencies = [
  "byteorder 1.2.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
@@ -2433,6 +2468,29 @@ dependencies = [
  "url 1.7.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
+[[package]]
+name = "trust-dns-proto"
+version = "0.5.0-alpha.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "byteorder 1.2.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "failure 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "futures 0.1.25 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "idna 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "lazy_static 1.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "log 0.4.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "rand 0.5.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "smallvec 0.6.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "socket2 0.3.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-executor 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-io 0.1.9 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-reactor 0.1.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-tcp 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-timer 0.2.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio-udp 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "url 1.7.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
 [[package]]
 name = "trust-dns-resolver"
 version = "0.9.1"
@@ -2448,7 +2506,25 @@ dependencies = [
  "resolv-conf 0.6.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "smallvec 0.6.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
  "tokio 0.1.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "trust-dns-proto 0.4.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "trust-dns-proto 0.4.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+]
+
+[[package]]
+name = "trust-dns-resolver"
+version = "0.10.0-alpha.3"
+source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
+dependencies = [
+ "cfg-if 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "failure 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "futures 0.1.25 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "ipconfig 0.1.7 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "lazy_static 1.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "log 0.4.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "lru-cache 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "resolv-conf 0.6.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "smallvec 0.6.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "tokio 0.1.11 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
+ "trust-dns-proto 0.5.0-alpha.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
 [[package]]
@@ -2599,15 +2675,6 @@ dependencies = [
  "walkdir 2.2.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
 ]
 
-[[package]]
-name = "uuid"
-version = "0.6.5"
-source = "registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index"
-dependencies = [
- "cfg-if 0.1.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
- "rand 0.4.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)",
-]
-
 [[package]]
 name = "uuid"
 version = "0.7.1"
@@ -2766,8 +2833,9 @@ dependencies = [
 ]
 
 [metadata]
-"checksum actix 0.7.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "79ad2aaef6647ec755ad4e6581e578694fda752c021bde3e0dd7f1174e25e74a"
-"checksum actix-web 0.7.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "3a53b29cfcf95a99e9bb8745285e8e1928c3d7d2e9995b8beb6a548b50a70cd3"
+"checksum actix 0.7.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "710e449bb7720ad245a7101f3698ebc743588e0f4ba2b07fe9d74323e348b835"
+"checksum actix-net 0.1.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "6681a31050ab951f09050f08c5ddb4189659b8bca93b629b26547208861d1401"
+"checksum actix-web 0.7.12 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "9f471c0941f1130c1c69370e379e375bfc875cecc3d2dc28baa9ab5c297c8a18"
 "checksum actix_derive 0.3.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "5b9d1525ef45e5e021f0b93dace157dcab5d792acb4cc78f3213787d65e2bb92"
 "checksum adler32 1.0.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "7e522997b529f05601e05166c07ed17789691f562762c7f3b987263d2dedee5c"
 "checksum aho-corasick 0.6.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "68f56c7353e5a9547cbd76ed90f7bb5ffc3ba09d4ea9bd1d8c06c8b1142eeb5a"
@@ -3007,7 +3075,10 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum tokio-udp 0.1.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "da941144b816d0dcda4db3a1ba87596e4df5e860a72b70783fe435891f80601c"
 "checksum tokio-uds 0.2.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "22e3aa6d1fcc19e635418dc0a30ab5bd65d347973d6f43f1a37bf8d9d1335fc9"
 "checksum toml 0.4.8 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "4a2ecc31b0351ea18b3fe11274b8db6e4d82bce861bbb22e6dbed40417902c65"
-"checksum trust-dns-proto 0.4.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "35ba79f839f2ca927c2581a92286b18d4281fe3cd60984c4e48c68eb29c38793"
+"checksum tower-service 0.1.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "b32f72af77f1bfe3d3d4da8516a238ebe7039b51dd8637a09841ac7f16d2c987"
+"checksum trust-dns-proto 0.4.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "f1525ca4e26f5a09d81b79584f19225e7dba5606ae3a416311c2751c5cea60bb"
+"checksum trust-dns-proto 0.5.0-alpha.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "3fabc184ed90d027afee46386e6418b9c953b7be527f62cc37724a1720e07d68"
+"checksum trust-dns-resolver 0.10.0-alpha.3 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "476d293db1c1027727a1683b681550a24207277e96bb1fb763053e1164621971"
 "checksum trust-dns-resolver 0.9.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "4a821ad51a29816420b8cac4b026756b81c023630b97eaa4c8090637ee3508bd"
 "checksum try-lock 0.2.2 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "e604eb7b43c06650e854be16a2a03155743d3752dd1c943f6829e26b7a36e382"
 "checksum typenum 1.10.0 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "612d636f949607bdf9b123b4a6f6d966dedf3ff669f7f045890d3a4a73948169"
@@ -3030,7 +3101,6 @@ dependencies = [
 "checksum url 1.7.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "2a321979c09843d272956e73700d12c4e7d3d92b2ee112b31548aef0d4efc5a6"
 "checksum utf-8 0.7.4 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "bab35f71693630bb1953dce0f2bcd780e7cde025027124a202ac08a45ba25141"
 "checksum utf8-ranges 1.0.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "fd70f467df6810094968e2fce0ee1bd0e87157aceb026a8c083bcf5e25b9efe4"
-"checksum uuid 0.6.5 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "e1436e58182935dcd9ce0add9ea0b558e8a87befe01c1a301e6020aeb0876363"
 "checksum uuid 0.7.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "dab5c5526c5caa3d106653401a267fed923e7046f35895ffcb5ca42db64942e6"
 "checksum vcpkg 0.2.6 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "def296d3eb3b12371b2c7d0e83bfe1403e4db2d7a0bba324a12b21c4ee13143d"
 "checksum vec_map 0.8.1 (registry+https://github.com/rust-lang/crates.io-index)" = "05c78687fb1a80548ae3250346c3db86a80a7cdd77bda190189f2d0a0987c81a"
diff --git a/src/cmd/serve.rs b/src/cmd/serve.rs
index 6dc56cd4..fffd4de5 100644
--- a/src/cmd/serve.rs
+++ b/src/cmd/serve.rs
@@ -154,19 +154,24 @@ pub fn serve(interface: &str, port: &str, output_dir: &str, base_url: &str, conf
 
     // Setup watchers
     let mut watching_static = false;
+    let mut watching_templates = false;
     let (tx, rx) = channel();
     let mut watcher = watcher(tx, Duration::from_secs(2)).unwrap();
     watcher.watch("content/", RecursiveMode::Recursive)
         .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `content` folder. Does it exist?")?;
-    watcher.watch("templates/", RecursiveMode::Recursive)
-        .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `templates` folder. Does it exist?")?;
     watcher.watch(config_file, RecursiveMode::Recursive)
         .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `config` file. Does it exist?")?;
 
     if Path::new("static").exists() {
         watching_static = true;
         watcher.watch("static/", RecursiveMode::Recursive)
-            .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `static` folder. Does it exist?")?;
+            .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `static` folder.")?;
+    }
+
+    if Path::new("templates").exists() {
+        watching_templates = true;
+        watcher.watch("templates/", RecursiveMode::Recursive)
+            .chain_err(|| "Can't watch the `templates` folder.")?;
     }
 
     // Sass support is optional so don't make it an error to no have a sass folder
@@ -221,10 +226,13 @@ pub fn serve(interface: &str, port: &str, output_dir: &str, base_url: &str, conf
 
     let pwd = env::current_dir().unwrap();
 
-    let mut watchers = vec!["content", "templates", "config.toml"];
+    let mut watchers = vec!["content", "config.toml"];
     if watching_static {
         watchers.push("static");
     }
+    if watching_templates {
+        watchers.push("templates");
+    }
     if site.config.compile_sass {
         watchers.push("sass");
     }