diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/d-modal.gjs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/d-modal.gjs
index 6bb6b5edabe..7ca44e041a7 100644
--- a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/d-modal.gjs
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/components/d-modal.gjs
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import Component from "@glimmer/component";
 import { cached, tracked } from "@glimmer/tracking";
-import ClassicComponent from "@ember/component";
 import { concat } from "@ember/helper";
 import { on } from "@ember/modifier";
 import { action } from "@ember/object";
@@ -12,6 +11,7 @@ import { and, not, or } from "truth-helpers";
 import ConditionalInElement from "discourse/components/conditional-in-element";
 import DButton from "discourse/components/d-button";
 import concatClass from "discourse/helpers/concat-class";
+import element from "discourse/helpers/element";
 import {
   disableBodyScroll,
   enableBodyScroll,
@@ -39,24 +39,24 @@ export default class DModal extends Component {
   @tracked wrapperElement;
   @tracked animating = false;
 
-  registerModalContainer = modifierFn((element) => {
-    this.modalContainer = element;
+  registerModalContainer = modifierFn((el) => {
+    this.modalContainer = el;
   });
 
-  setupModalBody = modifierFn((element) => {
+  setupModalBody = modifierFn((el) => {
     if (!this.site.mobileView) {
       return;
     }
 
-    disableBodyScroll(element);
+    disableBodyScroll(el);
 
     return () => {
-      enableBodyScroll(element);
+      enableBodyScroll(el);
     };
   });
 
   @action
-  async setupModal(element) {
+  async setupModal(el) {
     document.documentElement.addEventListener(
       "keydown",
       this.handleDocumentKeydown
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ export default class DModal extends Component {
     if (this.site.mobileView) {
       this.animating = true;
 
-      await element.animate(
+      await el.animate(
         [{ transform: "translateY(100%)" }, { transform: "translateY(0)" }],
         {
           duration: getMaxAnimationTimeMs(),
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ export default class DModal extends Component {
       this.animating = false;
     }
 
-    this.wrapperElement = element;
+    this.wrapperElement = el;
   }
 
   @action
@@ -226,9 +226,7 @@ export default class DModal extends Component {
       throw `@tagName must be form or div`;
     }
 
-    return class WrapperComponent extends ClassicComponent {
-      tagName = tagName;
-    };
+    return element(tagName);
   }
 
   @bind
diff --git a/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/helpers/element.gjs b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/helpers/element.gjs
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..af6142db0df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/assets/javascripts/discourse/app/helpers/element.gjs
@@ -0,0 +1,65 @@
+import ClassicComponent from "@ember/component";
+
+const empty = <template>
+  {{! template-lint-disable no-yield-only}}{{yield}}
+</template>;
+const shortcuts = {
+  div: <template><div ...attributes>{{yield}}</div></template>,
+  span: <template><span ...attributes>{{yield}}</span></template>,
+  form: <template><form ...attributes>{{yield}}</form></template>,
+  a: <template><a ...attributes>{{yield}}</a></template>,
+  button: <template><button ...attributes>{{yield}}</button></template>,
+};
+
+/**
+ * Returns a wrapper component with the given tagname, or an empty wrapper for an empty string.
+ * Similar to the reference implementation of RFC389, with higher-performance shortcuts for common elements.
+ *
+ * Can be used directly in a template:
+ *
+ * ```hbs
+ * {{#let (element @tagName) as |Wrapper|}}
+ *   <Wrapper class="pt-10 pb-10 ps-20 box-shadow" ...attributes>
+ *     Content
+ *   </Wrapper>
+ * {{/let}}
+ * ```
+ *
+ * Or in js:
+ *
+ * ```gjs
+ * class MyComponent {
+ *   get wrapper(){
+ *     return element(this.args.tagName);
+ *   }
+ *
+ *   <template>
+ *     <this.wrapper>
+ *       Content
+ *     </this.wrapper>
+ *   </template>
+ * }
+ * ```
+ */
+export default function element(tagName) {
+  if (typeof tagName !== "string") {
+    throw new Error(
+      `element helper only accepts string literals, you passed ${tagName}`
+    );
+  }
+
+  if (tagName === null || tagName === undefined) {
+    return null;
+  } else if (tagName === "") {
+    return empty;
+  } else if (shortcuts[tagName]) {
+    return shortcuts[tagName];
+  } else {
+    return <template>
+      <ClassicComponent
+        @tagName={{tagName}}
+        ...attributes
+      >{{yield}}</ClassicComponent>
+    </template>;
+  }
+}