diff --git a/benchmark/babel.js b/benchmark/babel.js
index b5d1694a..ad875792 100644
--- a/benchmark/babel.js
+++ b/benchmark/babel.js
@@ -1,20 +1,30 @@
 import {readFileSync} from 'fs'
 import {resolve} from 'path'
-import Benchmark from 'benchmark'
+import {Suite} from 'benchmark'
 import {transform as babel} from 'babel-core'
 
 import plugin from '../src/babel'
 
-const read = path => readFileSync(resolve(__dirname, path), 'utf8')
-const fixture = read('./fixtures/babel.js')
+const makeTransform = fixturePath => {
+  const fixture = readFileSync(
+    resolve(__dirname, fixturePath),
+    'utf8'
+  )
 
-module.exports = new Benchmark({
-  name: 'Babel transform',
-  minSamples: 500,
-  fn: () => {
-    babel(fixture, {
-      babelrc: false,
-      plugins: [plugin]
-    })
-  }
-})
+  return () => babel(fixture, {
+    babelrc: false,
+    plugins: [plugin]
+  })
+}
+
+const benchs = {
+  basic: makeTransform('./fixtures/basic.js'),
+  withExpressions: makeTransform('./fixtures/with-expressions.js')
+}
+
+const suite = new Suite('styled-jsx Babel transform')
+
+module.exports =
+  suite
+    .add('basic', benchs.basic)
+    .add('with expressions', benchs.withExpressions)
diff --git a/benchmark/fixtures/babel.js b/benchmark/fixtures/basic.js
similarity index 100%
rename from benchmark/fixtures/babel.js
rename to benchmark/fixtures/basic.js
diff --git a/benchmark/fixtures/with-expressions.js b/benchmark/fixtures/with-expressions.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..c686bd87
--- /dev/null
+++ b/benchmark/fixtures/with-expressions.js
@@ -0,0 +1,41 @@
+const c = 'red'
+const color = i => i
+
+export const Test1 = () => (
+  <div>
+    <span>test</span>
+    <span>test</span>
+    <p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>
+    <p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p>
+    <p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>
+    <p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p>
+    <p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p>
+    <p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p><p><span></span></p>
+    <Component />
+    <style jsx>{`
+      span { color: red; }
+      p { color: ${c}; }
+    `}</style>
+  </div>
+)
+
+export const Test2 = () => <span>test</span>
+
+export default class {
+  render() {
+    return (
+      <div>
+        <p>test</p>
+        <style jsx>{`
+          p { color: ${color(c)}; }
+        `}</style>
+        <style jsx>{`
+          p { color: red; }
+        `}</style>
+        <style jsx>{`
+          p { color: red; }
+        `}</style>
+      </div>
+    )
+  }
+}
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index c1ab5fdf..f389d42e 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -13,6 +13,8 @@
   ],
   "dependencies": {
     "babel-plugin-syntax-jsx": "^6.18.0",
+    "babel-traverse": "^6.21.0",
+    "babylon": "^6.14.1",
     "convert-source-map": "^1.3.0",
     "object.entries": "^1.0.4",
     "source-map": "^0.5.6",
diff --git a/src/babel.js b/src/babel.js
index 78d0c098..99bf7098 100644
--- a/src/babel.js
+++ b/src/babel.js
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@ import jsx from 'babel-plugin-syntax-jsx'
 import hash from 'string-hash'
 import {SourceMapGenerator} from 'source-map'
 import convert from 'convert-source-map'
+import traverse from 'babel-traverse'
+import {parse} from 'babylon'
 
 // Ours
 import transform from '../lib/style-transform'
@@ -31,23 +33,117 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
     if (isStyledJsx(path)) {
       const {node} = path
       return isGlobalEl(node.openingElement) ?
-        [node] : []
+        [path] : []
     }
 
-    return path.get('children')
-      .filter(isStyledJsx)
-      .map(({node}) => node)
+    return path.get('children').filter(isStyledJsx)
   }
 
-  const getExpressionText = expr => (
-    t.isTemplateLiteral(expr) ?
-      expr.quasis[0].value.raw :
-      // assume string literal
-      expr.value
-  )
+  // We only allow constants to be used in template literals.
+  // The following visitor ensures that MemberExpressions and Identifiers
+  // are not in the scope of the current Method (render) or function (Component).
+  const validateExpressionVisitor = {
+    MemberExpression(path) {
+      const {node} = path
+      if (
+        t.isThisExpression(node.object) &&
+        t.isIdentifier(node.property) &&
+        (
+          node.property.name === 'props' ||
+          node.property.name === 'state'
+        )
+      ) {
+        throw path.buildCodeFrameError(
+          `Expected a constant ` +
+          `as part of the template literal expression ` +
+          `(eg: <style jsx>{\`p { color: $\{myColor}\`}</style>), ` +
+          `but got a MemberExpression: this.${node.property.name}`)
+      }
+    },
+    Identifier(path, scope) {
+      const {name} = path.node
+      if (scope.hasOwnBinding(name)) {
+        throw path.buildCodeFrameError(
+          `Expected \`${name}\` ` +
+          `to not come from the closest scope.\n` +
+          `Styled JSX encourages the use of constants ` +
+          `instead of \`props\` or dynamic values ` +
+          `which are better set via inline styles or \`className\` toggling. ` +
+          `See https://github.com/zeit/styled-jsx#dynamic-styles`)
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  const getExpressionText = expr => {
+    const node = expr.node
 
-  const makeStyledJsxTag = (id, transformedCss) => (
-    t.JSXElement(
+    // assume string literal
+    if (t.isStringLiteral(node)) {
+      return node.value
+    }
+
+    const expressions = expr.get('expressions')
+
+    // simple template literal without expressions
+    if (expressions.length === 0) {
+      return node.quasis[0].value.cooked
+    }
+
+    // Special treatment for template literals that contain expressions:
+    //
+    // Expressions are replaced with a placeholder
+    // so that the CSS compiler can parse and
+    // transform the css source string
+    // without having to know about js literal expressions.
+    // Later expressions are restored
+    // by doing a replacement on the transformed css string.
+    //
+    // e.g.
+    // p { color: ${myConstant}; }
+    // becomes
+    // p { color: ___styledjsxexpression0___; }
+
+    const replacements = expressions.map((e, id) => ({
+      replacement: `___styledjsxexpression_${id}___`,
+      initial: `$\{${e.getSource()}}`
+    })).sort((a, b) => a.initial.length < b.initial.length)
+
+    const source = expr.getSource().slice(1, -1)
+
+    const modified = replacements.reduce((source, currentReplacement) => {
+      source = source.replace(
+        currentReplacement.initial,
+        currentReplacement.replacement
+      )
+      return source
+    }, source)
+
+    return {
+      source,
+      modified,
+      replacements
+    }
+  }
+
+  const makeStyledJsxTag = (id, transformedCss, isTemplateLiteral) => {
+    let css
+    if (isTemplateLiteral) {
+      // build the expression from transformedCss
+      traverse(
+        parse(`\`${transformedCss}\``),
+        {
+          TemplateLiteral(path) {
+            if (!css) {
+              css = path.node
+            }
+          }
+        }
+      )
+    } else {
+      css = t.stringLiteral(transformedCss)
+    }
+
+    return t.JSXElement(
       t.JSXOpeningElement(
         t.JSXIdentifier(STYLE_COMPONENT),
         [
@@ -57,7 +153,7 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
           ),
           t.JSXAttribute(
             t.JSXIdentifier(STYLE_COMPONENT_CSS),
-            t.JSXExpressionContainer(t.stringLiteral(transformedCss))
+            t.JSXExpressionContainer(css)
           )
         ],
         true
@@ -65,7 +161,7 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
       null,
       []
     )
-  )
+  }
 
   return {
     inherits: jsx,
@@ -124,12 +220,18 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
 
           state.styles = []
 
+          const scope = (path.findParent(path => (
+            path.isFunctionDeclaration() ||
+            path.isArrowFunctionExpression() ||
+            path.isClassMethod()
+          )) || path).scope
+
           for (const style of styles) {
             // compute children excluding whitespace
-            const children = style.children.filter(c => (
-              t.isJSXExpressionContainer(c) ||
+            const children = style.get('children').filter(c => (
+              t.isJSXExpressionContainer(c.node) ||
               // ignore whitespace around the expression container
-              (t.isJSXText(c) && c.value.trim() !== '')
+              (t.isJSXText(c.node) && c.node.value.trim() !== '')
             ))
 
             if (children.length !== 1) {
@@ -146,23 +248,27 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
                 `(eg: <style jsx>{\`hi\`}</style>), got ${child.type}`)
             }
 
-            const expression = child.expression
+            const expression = child.get('expression')
 
-            if (!t.isTemplateLiteral(child.expression) &&
-                !t.isStringLiteral(child.expression)) {
+            if (!t.isTemplateLiteral(expression) &&
+                !t.isStringLiteral(expression)) {
               throw path.buildCodeFrameError(`Expected a template ` +
                 `literal or String literal as the child of the ` +
                 `JSX Style tag (eg: <style jsx>{\`some css\`}</style>),` +
                 ` but got ${expression.type}`)
             }
 
+            // Validate MemberExpressions and Identifiers
+            // to ensure that are constants not defined in the closest scope
+            child.get('expression').traverse(validateExpressionVisitor, scope)
+
             const styleText = getExpressionText(expression)
-            const styleId = hash(styleText)
+            const styleId = hash(styleText.source || styleText)
 
             state.styles.push([
               styleId,
               styleText,
-              expression.loc
+              expression.node.loc
             ])
           }
 
@@ -187,7 +293,7 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
           const [id, css, loc] = state.styles.shift()
 
           if (isGlobal) {
-            path.replaceWith(makeStyledJsxTag(id, css))
+            path.replaceWith(makeStyledJsxTag(id, css.source || css, css.modified))
             return
           }
 
@@ -202,17 +308,41 @@ export default function ({types: t}) {
             })
             generator.setSourceContent(filename, state.file.code)
             transformedCss = [
-              transform(String(state.jsxId), css, generator, loc.start, filename),
+              transform(
+                String(state.jsxId),
+                css.modified || css,
+                generator,
+                loc.start,
+                filename
+              ),
               convert
                 .fromObject(generator)
                 .toComment({multiline: true}),
               `/*@ sourceURL=${filename} */`
             ].join('\n')
           } else {
-            transformedCss = transform(String(state.jsxId), css)
+            transformedCss = transform(
+              String(state.jsxId),
+              css.modified || css
+            )
           }
 
-          path.replaceWith(makeStyledJsxTag(id, transformedCss))
+          if (css.modified) {
+            transformedCss = css.replacements.reduce(
+              (transformedCss, currentReplacement) => {
+                transformedCss = transformedCss.replace(
+                  currentReplacement.replacement,
+                  currentReplacement.initial
+                )
+                return transformedCss
+              },
+              transformedCss
+            )
+          }
+
+          path.replaceWith(
+            makeStyledJsxTag(id, transformedCss, css.modified)
+          )
         }
       },
       Program: {
diff --git a/test/fixtures/expressions.js b/test/fixtures/expressions.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..3743fb00
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/expressions.js
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+const color = 'red'
+const otherColor = 'green'
+const mediumScreen = '680px'
+
+export default () => (
+  <div>
+    <p>test</p>
+    <style jsx>{`p.${color} { color: ${otherColor} }`}</style>
+    <style jsx>{'p { color: red }'}</style>
+    <style jsx global>{`body { background: ${color} }`}</style>
+    <style jsx>{`p { color: ${color} }`}</style>
+    <style jsx>{`p { color: ${darken(color)} }`}</style>
+    <style jsx>{`p { color: ${darken(color) + 2} }`}</style>
+    <style jsx>{`
+      @media (min-width: ${mediumScreen}) {
+        p { color: green }
+        p { color ${`red`}}
+      }
+      p { color: red }`
+    }</style>
+  </div>
+)
diff --git a/test/fixtures/expressions.out.js b/test/fixtures/expressions.out.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..cc317c4d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/expressions.out.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import _JSXStyle from 'styled-jsx/style';
+const color = 'red';
+const otherColor = 'green';
+const mediumScreen = '680px';
+
+export default (() => <div data-jsx={2520901095}>
+    <p data-jsx={2520901095}>test</p>
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={414042974} css={`p.${ color }[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: ${ otherColor } }`} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={188072295} css={"p[data-jsx=\"2520901095\"] {color: red }"} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={806016056} css={`body { background: ${ color } }`} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={924167211} css={`p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: ${ color } }`} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={3469794077} css={`p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: ${ darken(color) } }`} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={945380644} css={`p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: ${ darken(color) + 2 } }`} />
+    <_JSXStyle styleId={4106311606} css={`@media (min-width: ${ mediumScreen }) {p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: green }p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color ${ `red` }}}p[data-jsx="2520901095"] {color: red }`} />
+  </div>);
diff --git a/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/1.js b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/1.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..080f525d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/1.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export const Test = (p) => {
+  return (
+    <div>
+      <p>test</p>
+      <style jsx>{`p { color: ${p.color} }`}</style>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/2.js b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/2.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..575240ee
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/2.js
@@ -0,0 +1,9 @@
+export function Test(props) {
+  const {darken} = props
+  return (
+    <div>
+      <p>test</p>
+      <style jsx>{`p { color: ${darken(color)} }`}</style>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/3.js b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/3.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..154f18ff
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/3.js
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+export function Test({color}) {
+  return (
+    <div>
+      <p>test</p>
+      <style jsx>{`p { color: ${color} }`}</style>
+    </div>
+  )
+}
diff --git a/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/4.js b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/4.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..b8244790
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/fixtures/invalid-expressions/4.js
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+export class Test {
+  test() {
+    const aaaa = 'red'
+    return (
+      <div>
+        <p>test</p>
+        <style jsx>{`p { color: ${aaaa} }`}</style>
+      </div>
+    )
+  }
+
+  render() {
+    return (
+      <div>
+        <p>test</p>
+        <style jsx>{`p { color: ${this.props.color} }`}</style>
+      </div>
+    )
+  }
+}
diff --git a/test/index.js b/test/index.js
index 3fb9f51d..6f226cc4 100644
--- a/test/index.js
+++ b/test/index.js
@@ -82,8 +82,25 @@ test('should not add the data-jsx attribute to components instances', async t =>
   t.is(code, out.trim())
 })
 
+test('works with expressions in template literals', async t => {
+  const {code} = await transform('./fixtures/expressions.js')
+  const out = await read('./fixtures/expressions.out.js')
+  t.is(code, out.trim())
+})
+
+test('throws when using `props` or constants ' +
+  'defined in the closest scope', async t => {
+  [1, 2, 3, 4].forEach(i => {
+    t.throws(
+      transform(`./fixtures/invalid-expressions/${i}.js`),
+      SyntaxError
+    )
+  })
+})
+
 test('server rendering', t => {
   function App() {
+    const color = 'green'
     return React.createElement('div', null,
       React.createElement(JSXStyle, {
         css: 'p { color: red }',
@@ -92,13 +109,18 @@ test('server rendering', t => {
       React.createElement(JSXStyle, {
         css: 'div { color: blue }',
         styleId: 2
+      }),
+      React.createElement(JSXStyle, {
+        css: `div { color: ${color} }`,
+        styleId: 3
       })
     )
   }
 
   // expected CSS
   const expected = '<style id="__jsx-style-1">p { color: red }</style>' +
-    '<style id="__jsx-style-2">div { color: blue }</style>'
+    '<style id="__jsx-style-2">div { color: blue }</style>' +
+    '<style id="__jsx-style-3">div { color: green }</style>'
 
   // render using react
   ReactDOM.renderToString(React.createElement(App))