Saving Brushstrokes as Strokes in .ai Files?

Hello,

Something that has been annoying me is that all portions of custom brushstrokes are always expanded in saved .ai files. I understand the reason for this, but this means I have to effectively redraw all of my strokes if I need them to be strokes.

Is there any way of embedding custom brushes into an .ai file so that they aren't expanded?

I know that I can save brush libraries, and this maintains the actual brush artwork. But that still means I have to redraw my artwork with those brushes.

Thanks for the help.