diff --git a/constants.py b/constants.py
index 0ef138cd..eaa276bb 100644
--- a/constants.py
+++ b/constants.py
@@ -137,6 +137,10 @@ for folder in [FILE_DIR, RASTER_IMAGE_DIR, SVG_IMAGE_DIR, ANIMATIONS_DIR, TEX_DI
 TEX_TEXT_TO_REPLACE = "YourTextHere"
 TEMPLATE_TEX_FILE = os.path.join(THIS_DIR, "template.tex")
 TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE = os.path.join(THIS_DIR, "text_template.tex")
+with open(TEMPLATE_TEX_FILE, "r") as infile:
+    TEMPLATE_TEX_FILE_BODY = infile.read()
+with open(TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE, "r") as infile:
+    TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE_BODY = infile.read()
 
 FFMPEG_BIN = "ffmpeg"
 
diff --git a/mobject/svg/brace.py b/mobject/svg/brace.py
index e5c42cb7..02ac8947 100644
--- a/mobject/svg/brace.py
+++ b/mobject/svg/brace.py
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ class Brace(TexMobject):
         "width_multiplier": 2,
         "max_num_quads": 15,
         "min_num_quads": 0,
+        "background_stroke_width": 0,
     }
 
     def __init__(self, mobject, direction=DOWN, **kwargs):
diff --git a/mobject/svg/tex_mobject.py b/mobject/svg/tex_mobject.py
index 6db0726f..63cd30d2 100644
--- a/mobject/svg/tex_mobject.py
+++ b/mobject/svg/tex_mobject.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ class TexSymbol(VMobjectFromSVGPathstring):
 
 class SingleStringTexMobject(SVGMobject):
     CONFIG = {
-        "template_tex_file": TEMPLATE_TEX_FILE,
+        "template_tex_file_body": TEMPLATE_TEX_FILE_BODY,
         "stroke_width": 0,
         "fill_opacity": 1.0,
         "background_stroke_width": 5,
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ class SingleStringTexMobject(SVGMobject):
         self.tex_string = tex_string
         file_name = tex_to_svg_file(
             self.get_modified_expression(tex_string),
-            self.template_tex_file
+            self.template_tex_file_body
         )
         SVGMobject.__init__(self, file_name=file_name, **kwargs)
         if self.height is None:
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ class TexMobject(SingleStringTexMobject):
 
 class TextMobject(TexMobject):
     CONFIG = {
-        "template_tex_file": TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE,
+        "template_tex_file_body": TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE_BODY,
         "alignment": "\\centering",
     }
 
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ class BulletedList(TextMobject):
         "buff": MED_LARGE_BUFF,
         "dot_scale_factor": 2,
         # Have to include because of handle_multiple_args implementation
-        "template_tex_file": TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE,
+        "template_tex_file_body": TEMPLATE_TEXT_FILE_BODY,
         "alignment": "",
     }
 
diff --git a/utils/tex_file_writing.py b/utils/tex_file_writing.py
index f41ff1ad..0d18ffec 100644
--- a/utils/tex_file_writing.py
+++ b/utils/tex_file_writing.py
@@ -6,34 +6,34 @@ from constants import TEX_DIR
 from constants import TEX_TEXT_TO_REPLACE
 
 
-def tex_hash(expression, template_tex_file):
-    id_str = str(expression + template_tex_file)
+def tex_hash(expression, template_tex_file_body):
+    id_str = str(expression + template_tex_file_body)
     hasher = hashlib.sha256()
     hasher.update(id_str.encode())
     # Truncating at 16 bytes for cleanliness
     return hasher.hexdigest()[:16]
 
 
-def tex_to_svg_file(expression, template_tex_file):
-    tex_file = generate_tex_file(expression, template_tex_file)
+def tex_to_svg_file(expression, template_tex_file_body):
+    tex_file = generate_tex_file(expression, template_tex_file_body)
     dvi_file = tex_to_dvi(tex_file)
     return dvi_to_svg(dvi_file)
 
 
-def generate_tex_file(expression, template_tex_file):
+def generate_tex_file(expression, template_tex_file_body):
     result = os.path.join(
         TEX_DIR,
-        tex_hash(expression, template_tex_file)
+        tex_hash(expression, template_tex_file_body)
     ) + ".tex"
     if not os.path.exists(result):
         print("Writing \"%s\" to %s" % (
             "".join(expression), result
         ))
-        with open(template_tex_file, "r") as infile:
-            body = infile.read()
-            body = body.replace(TEX_TEXT_TO_REPLACE, expression)
+        new_body = template_tex_file_body.replace(
+            TEX_TEXT_TO_REPLACE, expression
+        )
         with open(result, "w") as outfile:
-            outfile.write(body)
+            outfile.write(new_body)
     return result