Skip around inserting a fragment when possible (insert the node directly).

src/manipulation.js

@@ -296,7 +296,7 @@ jQuery.fn.extend({
 	},
 
 	domManip: function( args, table, callback ) {
-		var results, first, value = args[0], scripts = [];
+		var results, first, value = args[0], scripts = [], fragment;
 
 		// We can't cloneNode fragments that contain checked, in WebKit
 		if ( !jQuery.support.checkClone && arguments.length === 3 && typeof value === "string" && rchecked.test( value ) ) {
@@ -320,8 +320,14 @@ jQuery.fn.extend({
 			} else {
 				results = buildFragment( args, this, scripts );
 			}
-
-			first = results.fragment.firstChild;
+			
+			fragment = results.fragment;
+			
+			if ( fragment.childNodes.length === 1 ) {
+				first = fragment = fragment.firstChild;
+			} else {
+				first = fragment.firstChild;
+			}
 
 			if ( first ) {
 				table = table && jQuery.nodeName( first, "tr" );
@@ -331,14 +337,14 @@ jQuery.fn.extend({
 						table ?
 							root(this[i], first) :
 							this[i],
-						results.cacheable || this.length > 1 || i > 0 ?
-							results.fragment.cloneNode(true) :
-							results.fragment
+						i > 0 || results.cacheable || this.length > 1  ?
+							fragment.cloneNode(true) :
+							fragment
 					);
 				}
 			}
 
-			if ( scripts ) {
+			if ( scripts.length ) {
 				jQuery.each( scripts, evalScript );
 			}
 		}