<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg viewBox="0 0 400 300" version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">
<defs>
    <symbol id="symbol" overflow="visible" viewBox="0 0 1000 1000">
        <rect stroke-width="5px" fill="red" stroke="navy" width="60" height="10"/>
    </symbol>
</defs>

<use x="25" y="25" xlink:href="#symbol"/>
<use x="125" y="25" xlink:href="#symbol"/>

<text font-size="10" id="text" x="30" y="70">You should shapes _above_ this text</text>

<script>
var useElement = document.getElementsByTagName("use")[1];
var element = useElement.instanceRoot.correspondingElement;
element.removeAttribute("viewBox");
</script>
</svg>