diff --git a/include/sway/tree/container.h b/include/sway/tree/container.h
index 8bf1955d..4608b8ac 100644
--- a/include/sway/tree/container.h
+++ b/include/sway/tree/container.h
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ struct sway_container {
 	char *title;           // The view's title (unformatted)
 	char *formatted_title; // The title displayed in the title bar
 	int title_width;
+	
+	char *title_format;
 
 	enum sway_container_layout prev_split_layout;
 
@@ -183,6 +185,8 @@ void container_update_title_bar(struct sway_container *container);
 
 void container_update_marks(struct sway_container *container);
 
+size_t parse_title_format(struct sway_container *container, char *buffer);
+
 size_t container_build_representation(enum sway_container_layout layout,
 		list_t *children, char *buffer);
 
diff --git a/include/sway/tree/view.h b/include/sway/tree/view.h
index 14aad1a1..f6032221 100644
--- a/include/sway/tree/view.h
+++ b/include/sway/tree/view.h
@@ -80,8 +80,6 @@ struct sway_view {
 	// Used when changing a view from tiled to floating.
 	int natural_width, natural_height;
 
-	char *title_format;
-
 	bool using_csd;
 
 	struct timespec urgent;
diff --git a/sway/commands/title_format.c b/sway/commands/title_format.c
index 0b2ea265..fbade473 100644
--- a/sway/commands/title_format.c
+++ b/sway/commands/title_format.c
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+#define _POSIX_C_SOURCE 200809L
 #include <string.h>
 #include "sway/commands.h"
 #include "sway/config.h"
@@ -11,16 +12,19 @@ struct cmd_results *cmd_title_format(int argc, char **argv) {
 		return error;
 	}
 	struct sway_container *container = config->handler_context.container;
-	if (!container || !container->view) {
+	if (!container) {
 		return cmd_results_new(CMD_INVALID,
-				"Only views can have a title_format");
+						 "Only valid containers can have a title_format");
 	}
-	struct sway_view *view = container->view;
 	char *format = join_args(argv, argc);
-	if (view->title_format) {
-		free(view->title_format);
+	if (container->title_format) {
+		free(container->title_format);
+	}
+	container->title_format = format;
+	if (container->view) {
+		view_update_title(container->view, true);
+	} else {
+		container_update_representation(container);
 	}
-	view->title_format = format;
-	view_update_title(view, true);
 	return cmd_results_new(CMD_SUCCESS, NULL);
 }
diff --git a/sway/tree/container.c b/sway/tree/container.c
index 46c388b3..188d3223 100644
--- a/sway/tree/container.c
+++ b/sway/tree/container.c
@@ -22,6 +22,7 @@
 #include "sway/tree/workspace.h"
 #include "sway/xdg_decoration.h"
 #include "list.h"
+#include "pango.h"
 #include "log.h"
 #include "stringop.h"
 
@@ -499,6 +500,7 @@ void container_destroy(struct sway_container *con) {
 	}
 	free(con->title);
 	free(con->formatted_title);
+	free(con->title_format);
 	list_free(con->pending.children);
 	list_free(con->current.children);
 
@@ -645,6 +647,87 @@ bool container_has_ancestor(struct sway_container *descendant,
 	return false;
 }
 
+static char *escape_pango_markup(const char *buffer) {
+	size_t length = escape_markup_text(buffer, NULL);
+	char *escaped_title = calloc(length + 1, sizeof(char));
+	escape_markup_text(buffer, escaped_title);
+	return escaped_title;
+}
+
+static size_t append_prop(char *buffer, const char *value) {
+	if (!value) {
+		return 0;
+	}
+	// If using pango_markup in font, we need to escape all markup chars
+	// from values to make sure tags are not inserted by clients
+	if (config->pango_markup) {
+		char *escaped_value = escape_pango_markup(value);
+		lenient_strcat(buffer, escaped_value);
+		size_t len = strlen(escaped_value);
+		free(escaped_value);
+		return len;
+	} else {
+		lenient_strcat(buffer, value);
+		return strlen(value);
+	}
+}
+
+/**
+ * Calculate and return the length of the formatted title.
+ * If buffer is not NULL, also populate the buffer with the formatted title.
+ */
+size_t parse_title_format(struct sway_container *container, char *buffer) {
+	if (!container->title_format || strcmp(container->title_format, "%title") == 0) {
+		if (container->view) {
+			return append_prop(buffer, view_get_title(container->view));
+		} else {
+			return container_build_representation(container->pending.layout, container->pending.children, buffer);
+		}
+	}
+
+	size_t len = 0;
+	char *format = container->title_format;
+	char *next = strchr(format, '%');
+	while (next) {
+		// Copy everything up to the %
+		lenient_strncat(buffer, format, next - format);
+		len += next - format;
+		format = next;
+
+		if (strncmp(next, "%title", 6) == 0) {
+			if (container->view) {
+				len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_title(container->view));
+			} else {
+				len += container_build_representation(container->pending.layout, container->pending.children, buffer);
+			}
+			format += 6;
+		} else if (container->view) {
+			if (strncmp(next, "%app_id", 7) == 0) {
+				len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_app_id(container->view));
+				format += 7;
+			} else if (strncmp(next, "%class", 6) == 0) {
+				len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_class(container->view));
+				format += 6;
+			} else if (strncmp(next, "%instance", 9) == 0) {
+				len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_instance(container->view));
+				format += 9;
+			} else if (strncmp(next, "%shell", 6) == 0) {
+				len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_shell(container->view));
+				format += 6;
+			}
+		} else {
+			lenient_strcat(buffer, "%");
+			++format;
+			++len;
+		}
+		next = strchr(format, '%');
+	}
+	lenient_strcat(buffer, format);
+	len += strlen(format);
+
+	return len;
+}
+
 /**
  * Calculate and return the length of the tree representation.
  * An example tree representation is: V[Terminal, Firefox]
@@ -700,16 +783,14 @@ size_t container_build_representation(enum sway_container_layout layout,
 
 void container_update_representation(struct sway_container *con) {
 	if (!con->view) {
-		size_t len = container_build_representation(con->pending.layout,
-				con->pending.children, NULL);
+		size_t len = parse_title_format(con, NULL);
 		free(con->formatted_title);
 		con->formatted_title = calloc(len + 1, sizeof(char));
 		if (!sway_assert(con->formatted_title,
 					"Unable to allocate title string")) {
 			return;
 		}
-		container_build_representation(con->pending.layout, con->pending.children,
-				con->formatted_title);
+		parse_title_format(con, con->formatted_title);
 
 		if (con->title_bar.title_text) {
 			sway_text_node_set_text(con->title_bar.title_text, con->formatted_title);
diff --git a/sway/tree/view.c b/sway/tree/view.c
index d25a09c2..492095b9 100644
--- a/sway/tree/view.c
+++ b/sway/tree/view.c
@@ -34,7 +34,6 @@
 #include "sway/tree/workspace.h"
 #include "sway/config.h"
 #include "sway/xdg_decoration.h"
-#include "pango.h"
 #include "stringop.h"
 
 bool view_init(struct sway_view *view, enum sway_view_type type,
@@ -81,8 +80,6 @@ void view_destroy(struct sway_view *view) {
 
 	view_assign_ctx(view, NULL);
 	wlr_scene_node_destroy(&view->scene_tree->node);
-	free(view->title_format);
-
 	if (view->impl->destroy) {
 		view->impl->destroy(view);
 	} else {
@@ -991,77 +988,6 @@ struct sway_view *view_from_wlr_surface(struct wlr_surface *wlr_surface) {
 	return NULL;
 }
 
-static char *escape_pango_markup(const char *buffer) {
-	size_t length = escape_markup_text(buffer, NULL);
-	char *escaped_title = calloc(length + 1, sizeof(char));
-	escape_markup_text(buffer, escaped_title);
-	return escaped_title;
-}
-
-static size_t append_prop(char *buffer, const char *value) {
-	if (!value) {
-		return 0;
-	}
-	// If using pango_markup in font, we need to escape all markup chars
-	// from values to make sure tags are not inserted by clients
-	if (config->pango_markup) {
-		char *escaped_value = escape_pango_markup(value);
-		lenient_strcat(buffer, escaped_value);
-		size_t len = strlen(escaped_value);
-		free(escaped_value);
-		return len;
-	} else {
-		lenient_strcat(buffer, value);
-		return strlen(value);
-	}
-}
-
-/**
- * Calculate and return the length of the formatted title.
- * If buffer is not NULL, also populate the buffer with the formatted title.
- */
-static size_t parse_title_format(struct sway_view *view, char *buffer) {
-	if (!view->title_format || strcmp(view->title_format, "%title") == 0) {
-		return append_prop(buffer, view_get_title(view));
-	}
-
-	size_t len = 0;
-	char *format = view->title_format;
-	char *next = strchr(format, '%');
-	while (next) {
-		// Copy everything up to the %
-		lenient_strncat(buffer, format, next - format);
-		len += next - format;
-		format = next;
-
-		if (strncmp(next, "%title", 6) == 0) {
-			len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_title(view));
-			format += 6;
-		} else if (strncmp(next, "%app_id", 7) == 0) {
-			len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_app_id(view));
-			format += 7;
-		} else if (strncmp(next, "%class", 6) == 0) {
-			len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_class(view));
-			format += 6;
-		} else if (strncmp(next, "%instance", 9) == 0) {
-			len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_instance(view));
-			format += 9;
-		} else if (strncmp(next, "%shell", 6) == 0) {
-			len += append_prop(buffer, view_get_shell(view));
-			format += 6;
-		} else {
-			lenient_strcat(buffer, "%");
-			++format;
-			++len;
-		}
-		next = strchr(format, '%');
-	}
-	lenient_strcat(buffer, format);
-	len += strlen(format);
-
-	return len;
-}
-
 void view_update_app_id(struct sway_view *view) {
 	const char *app_id = view_get_app_id(view);
 
@@ -1090,7 +1016,7 @@ void view_update_title(struct sway_view *view, bool force) {
 	free(view->container->title);
 	free(view->container->formatted_title);
 
-	size_t len = parse_title_format(view, NULL);
+	size_t len = parse_title_format(view->container, NULL);
 
 	if (len) {
 		char *buffer = calloc(len + 1, sizeof(char));
@@ -1098,7 +1024,7 @@ void view_update_title(struct sway_view *view, bool force) {
 			return;
 		}
 
-		parse_title_format(view, buffer);
+		parse_title_format(view->container, buffer);
 		view->container->formatted_title = buffer;
 	} else {
 		view->container->formatted_title = NULL;