diff --git a/s3file/forms.py b/s3file/forms.py
index 0565602..21e7976 100644
--- a/s3file/forms.py
+++ b/s3file/forms.py
@@ -1,7 +1,9 @@
 import base64
+import html
 import logging
 import pathlib
 import uuid
+from html.parser import HTMLParser
 
 from django.conf import settings
 from django.templatetags.static import static
@@ -16,6 +18,71 @@
 logger = logging.getLogger("s3file")
 
 
+class InputToS3FileRewriter(HTMLParser):
+    """HTML parser that rewrites <input type="file"> to <s3-file> custom elements."""
+
+    def __init__(self):
+        super().__init__()
+        self.output = []
+
+    def handle_starttag(self, tag, attrs):
+        if tag == "input" and dict(attrs).get("type") == "file":
+            self.output.append("<s3-file")
+            for name, value in attrs:
+                if name != "type":
+                    self.output.append(
+                        f' {name}="{html.escape(value, quote=True)}"'
+                        if value
+                        else f" {name}"
+                    )
+            self.output.append(">")
+        else:
+            self.output.append(self.get_starttag_text())
+
+    def handle_endtag(self, tag):
+        self.output.append(f"</{tag}>")
+
+    def handle_data(self, data):
+        self.output.append(data)
+
+    def handle_startendtag(self, tag, attrs):
+        if tag == "input" and dict(attrs).get("type") == "file":
+            self.output.append("<s3-file")
+            for name, value in attrs:
+                if name != "type":
+                    self.output.append(
+                        f' {name}="{html.escape(value, quote=True)}"'
+                        if value
+                        else f" {name}"
+                    )
+            self.output.append(">")
+        else:
+            self.output.append(self.get_starttag_text())
+
+    def handle_comment(self, data):
+        # Preserve HTML comments in the output
+        self.output.append(f"<!--{data}-->")
+
+    def handle_decl(self, decl):
+        # Preserve declarations such as <!DOCTYPE ...> in the output
+        self.output.append(f"<!{decl}>")
+
+    def handle_pi(self, data):
+        # Preserve processing instructions such as <?xml ...?> in the output
+        self.output.append(f"<?{data}>")
+
+    def handle_entityref(self, name):
+        # Preserve HTML entities like &amp;, &lt;, &gt;
+        self.output.append(f"&{name};")
+
+    def handle_charref(self, name):
+        # Preserve character references like &#39;, &#x27;
+        self.output.append(f"&#{name};")
+
+    def get_html(self):
+        return "".join(self.output)
+
+
 @html_safe
 class Asset:
     """A generic asset that can be included in a template."""
@@ -99,11 +166,10 @@ def build_attrs(self, *args, **kwargs):
 
     def render(self, name, value, attrs=None, renderer=None):
         """Render the widget as a custom element for Safari compatibility."""
-        return mark_safe(  # noqa: S308
-            str(super().render(name, value, attrs=attrs, renderer=renderer)).replace(
-                f'<input type="{self.input_type}"', "<s3-file"
-            )
-        )
+        html_output = str(super().render(name, value, attrs=attrs, renderer=renderer))
+        parser = InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed(html_output)
+        return mark_safe(parser.get_html())  # noqa: S308
 
     def get_conditions(self, accept):
         conditions = [
diff --git a/tests/test_forms.py b/tests/test_forms.py
index 7afca9a..eab1b5c 100644
--- a/tests/test_forms.py
+++ b/tests/test_forms.py
@@ -72,6 +72,98 @@ def test_str(self, settings):
         assert str(js) == '<script src="/static/path" type="module"></script>'
 
 
+class TestInputToS3FileRewriter:
+    def test_transforms_file_input(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="file" name="test">')
+        assert parser.get_html() == '<s3-file name="test">'
+
+    def test_preserves_non_file_input(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="text" name="test">')
+        assert parser.get_html() == '<input type="text" name="test">'
+
+    def test_handles_attribute_ordering(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input name="test" type="file" class="foo">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result.startswith("<s3-file")
+        assert 'name="test"' in result
+        assert 'class="foo"' in result
+        assert 'type="file"' not in result
+
+    def test_handles_multiple_attributes(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed(
+            '<input type="file" name="test" accept="image/*" required multiple>'
+        )
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result.startswith("<s3-file")
+        assert 'name="test"' in result
+        assert 'accept="image/*"' in result
+        assert "required" in result
+        assert "multiple" in result
+
+    def test_escapes_html_entities(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="file" name="test" data-value="test&value">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert 'data-value="test&amp;value"' in result
+
+    def test_preserves_existing_html_entities(self):
+        # Test that already-escaped entities in input are preserved (not double-escaped)
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="file" name="test" data-value="test&amp;value">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        # Should preserve the &amp; entity, not convert to &amp;amp;
+        assert 'data-value="test&amp;value"' in result
+        assert '&amp;amp;' not in result
+
+    def test_preserves_character_references(self):
+        # Test that character references are preserved (may be in decimal or hex format)
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="file" name="test" data-value="test&#39;s">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        # The character reference should be preserved (either &#39; or &#x27; both represent ')
+        assert ('data-value="test&#39;s"' in result or 'data-value="test&#x27;s"' in result)
+        # Verify the actual apostrophe character is NOT directly in the output (should be a reference)
+        assert 'data-value="test\'s"' not in result or '&#' in result
+
+    def test_handles_self_closing_tag(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="file" name="test" />')
+        assert parser.get_html() == '<s3-file name="test">'
+
+    def test_preserves_non_file_self_closing_tag(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<input type="text" name="test" />')
+        assert parser.get_html() == '<input type="text" name="test" />'
+
+    def test_preserves_surrounding_elements(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<p><input type="file" name="test"></p>')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result == '<p><s3-file name="test"></p>'
+
+    def test_preserves_html_comments(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<!-- comment --><input type="file" name="test">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result == '<!-- comment --><s3-file name="test">'
+
+    def test_preserves_declarations(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<!DOCTYPE html><input type="file" name="test">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result == '<!DOCTYPE html><s3-file name="test">'
+
+    def test_preserves_processing_instructions(self):
+        parser = forms.InputToS3FileRewriter()
+        parser.feed('<?xml version="1.0"?><input type="file" name="test">')
+        result = parser.get_html()
+        assert result == '<?xml version="1.0"?><s3-file name="test">'
+
+
 @contextmanager
 def wait_for_page_load(driver, timeout=30):
     old_page = driver.find_element(By.TAG_NAME, "html")
@@ -186,6 +278,21 @@ def test_render_wraps_in_s3_file_element(self, freeze_upload_folder):
         # Check that the output is the s3-file custom element
         assert html.startswith("<s3-file")
 
+    def test_render_preserves_attributes(self, freeze_upload_folder):
+        widget = ClearableFileInput(attrs={"class": "test-class", "accept": "image/*"})
+        html = widget.render(name="file", value=None)
+        assert html.startswith("<s3-file")
+        assert 'name="file"' in html
+        assert 'class="test-class"' in html
+        assert 'accept="image/*"' in html
+        assert 'type="file"' not in html
+
+    def test_render_excludes_type_attribute(self, freeze_upload_folder):
+        widget = ClearableFileInput()
+        html = widget.render(name="file", value=None)
+        assert 'type="file"' not in html
+        assert html.startswith("<s3-file")
+
     @pytest.mark.selenium
     def test_no_js_error(self, driver, live_server):
         driver.get(live_server + self.create_url)