diff --git a/django_cotton/templatetags/_vars.py b/django_cotton/templatetags/_vars.py
index cc452fa..3984975 100644
--- a/django_cotton/templatetags/_vars.py
+++ b/django_cotton/templatetags/_vars.py
@@ -4,10 +4,9 @@
     Variable,
     VariableDoesNotExist,
     Node,
-    TemplateSyntaxError,
 )
 
-from django_cotton.templatetags import DynamicAttr, UnprocessableDynamicAttr
+from django_cotton.templatetags import DynamicAttr, UnprocessableDynamicAttr, Attrs
 from django_cotton.utils import get_cotton_data
 
 
@@ -23,34 +22,34 @@ def render(self, context):
         if cotton_data["stack"]:
             current_component = cotton_data["stack"][-1]
             attrs = current_component["attrs"]
-            vars = {}
+        else:
+            attrs = Attrs({})
 
-            for key, value in self.var_dict.items():
-                if key not in attrs.exclude_unprocessable():
-                    if key.startswith(":"):
-                        try:
-                            vars[key[1:]] = DynamicAttr(value, is_cvar=True).resolve(context)
-                        except UnprocessableDynamicAttr:
-                            pass
-                    else:
-                        try:
-                            resolved_value = Variable(value).resolve(context)
-                        except (VariableDoesNotExist, IndexError):
-                            resolved_value = value
-                        attrs[key] = resolved_value
-                attrs.exclude_from_string_output(key)
+        vars = {}
 
-            # Process cvars without values
-            for empty_var in self.empty_vars:
-                attrs.exclude_from_string_output(empty_var)
+        for key, value in self.var_dict.items():
+            if key not in attrs.exclude_unprocessable():
+                if key.startswith(":"):
+                    try:
+                        vars[key[1:]] = DynamicAttr(value, is_cvar=True).resolve(context)
+                    except UnprocessableDynamicAttr:
+                        pass
+                else:
+                    try:
+                        resolved_value = Variable(value).resolve(context)
+                    except (VariableDoesNotExist, IndexError):
+                        resolved_value = value
+                    attrs[key] = resolved_value
+            attrs.exclude_from_string_output(key)
 
-            with context.push({**vars, **attrs.make_attrs_accessible(), "attrs": attrs}):
-                output = self.nodelist.render(context)
+        # Process cvars without values
+        for empty_var in self.empty_vars:
+            attrs.exclude_from_string_output(empty_var)
 
-            return output
+        with context.push({**vars, **attrs.make_attrs_accessible(), "attrs": attrs}):
+            output = self.nodelist.render(context)
 
-        else:
-            raise TemplateSyntaxError("<c-vars /> tag must be used inside a component")
+        return output
 
 
 def cotton_cvars(parser, token):
diff --git a/django_cotton/tests/test_cvars.py b/django_cotton/tests/test_cvars.py
index 86cbfe7..ba951ae 100644
--- a/django_cotton/tests/test_cvars.py
+++ b/django_cotton/tests/test_cvars.py
@@ -1,3 +1,5 @@
+from django.template.loader import render_to_string
+
 from django_cotton.tests.utils import CottonTestCase
 
 
@@ -364,3 +366,17 @@ def test_incoming_dynamic_attributes_overwrite_cvars_dynamic_attributes(self):
             response = self.client.get("/view/")
             self.assertContains(response, "expected")
             self.assertNotContains(response, "not")
+
+    def test_cvars_are_processed_when_component_rendered_using_render_to_string(self):
+        self.create_template(
+            "cotton/direct_render.html",
+            """
+            <c-vars cvar="I'm all set" />
+            
+            {{ cvar|safe }}
+            """,
+        )
+
+        rendered = render_to_string("cotton/direct_render.html")
+
+        self.assertTrue("I'm all set" in rendered)