A light emitting device is provided that includes an integral heat dissipation element. This heat dissipation element is included in the leadframe that is used to facilitate fabrication of the light emitting device, to provide a single common substrate that forms both the heat dissipation element and the conductive elements for coupling the light emitting device to external sources of power. The heat dissipation element may extend beyond the protective structure that surrounds the light emitting element to facilitate heat dissipation to the surrounding medium.