diff --git a/pelican/contents.py b/pelican/contents.py
index ffa2b9a0..f6e08147 100644
--- a/pelican/contents.py
+++ b/pelican/contents.py
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ class Content(object):
     :param settings: the settings dictionary (optional).
     :param source_path: The location of the source of this content (if any).
     :param context: The shared context between generators.
+    :param _readers: readers.Readers() instance used for rendering includes.
 
     """
     @deprecated_attribute(old='filename', new='source_path', since=(3, 2, 0))
@@ -43,7 +44,7 @@ class Content(object):
         return None
 
     def __init__(self, content, metadata=None, settings=None,
-                 source_path=None, context=None):
+                 source_path=None, context=None, _readers=None):
         if metadata is None:
             metadata = {}
         if settings is None:
@@ -152,17 +153,12 @@ class Content(object):
             self._summary = metadata['summary']
 
         # used for rendering {includes}
-        self._readers = None
+        self._readers = _readers
 
         signals.content_object_init.send(self)
 
     @property
     def readers(self):
-        if self._readers is None:
-            # import here due to circular imports
-            from pelican.readers import Readers
-            self._readers = Readers(self.settings)
-
         return self._readers
 
     def __str__(self):
diff --git a/pelican/readers.py b/pelican/readers.py
index 10a501e7..ddd51559 100644
--- a/pelican/readers.py
+++ b/pelican/readers.py
@@ -574,7 +574,7 @@ class Readers(FileStampDataCacher):
 
         return content_class(content=content, metadata=metadata,
                              settings=self.settings, source_path=path,
-                             context=context)
+                             context=context, _readers=self)
 
 
 def find_empty_alt(content, path):
diff --git a/pelican/tests/test_contents.py b/pelican/tests/test_contents.py
index 040f95e3..9546ab8a 100644
--- a/pelican/tests/test_contents.py
+++ b/pelican/tests/test_contents.py
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ from jinja2.utils import generate_lorem_ipsum
 import six
 
 from pelican.contents import Article, Author, Category, Page, Static, Tag
+from pelican.readers import Readers
 from pelican.settings import DEFAULT_CONFIG
 from pelican.signals import content_object_init
 from pelican.tests.support import LoggedTestCase, get_settings, unittest
@@ -428,6 +429,7 @@ class TestPage(LoggedTestCase):
         settings = get_settings()
         settings['PATH'] = CONTENT_PATH
         args['settings'] = settings
+        args['_readers'] = Readers(settings)
 
         # test inclusion b/w files of different types
         # HTML includes Markdown