diff --git a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp
index 3bc50b1f51e8..c0e45721943c 100644
--- a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp
+++ b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp
@@ -20,9 +20,18 @@ namespace layers {
  */
 static const int MAX_TAP_TIME = 300;
 
+/**
+ * Amount of change in span needed to take us from the GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH
+ * state to the GESTURE_PINCH state. This is measured as a change in distance
+ * between the fingers used to compute the span ratio. Note that it is a
+ * distance, not a displacement.
+ */
+static const float PINCH_START_THRESHOLD = 35.0f;
+
 GestureEventListener::GestureEventListener(AsyncPanZoomController* aAsyncPanZoomController)
   : mAsyncPanZoomController(aAsyncPanZoomController),
     mState(GESTURE_NONE),
+    mSpanChange(0.0f),
     mLastTouchInput(MultiTouchInput::MULTITOUCH_START, 0)
 {
 }
@@ -145,6 +154,10 @@ nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandleInputEvent(const InputData& aEvent)
       mState = GESTURE_NONE;
     }
 
+    if (!mTouches.Length()) {
+      mSpanChange = 0.0f;
+    }
+
     break;
   }
   case MultiTouchInput::MULTITOUCH_CANCEL:
@@ -172,17 +185,31 @@ nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInpu
       float(NS_hypot(firstTouch.x - secondTouch.x,
                      firstTouch.y - secondTouch.y));
 
-    if (mState == GESTURE_NONE) {
-      PinchGestureInput pinchEvent(PinchGestureInput::PINCHGESTURE_START,
-                                   aEvent.mTime,
-                                   focusPoint,
-                                   currentSpan,
-                                   currentSpan);
+    switch (mState) {
+    case GESTURE_NONE:
+      mPreviousSpan = currentSpan;
+      mState = GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH;
+      // Deliberately fall through. If the user pinched and took their fingers
+      // off the screen such that they still had 1 left on it, we want there to
+      // be no resistance. We should only reset |mSpanChange| once all fingers
+      // are off the screen.
+    case GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH: {
+      mSpanChange += fabsf(currentSpan - mPreviousSpan);
+      if (mSpanChange > PINCH_START_THRESHOLD) {
+        PinchGestureInput pinchEvent(PinchGestureInput::PINCHGESTURE_START,
+                                     aEvent.mTime,
+                                     focusPoint,
+                                     currentSpan,
+                                     currentSpan);
 
-      mAsyncPanZoomController->HandleInputEvent(pinchEvent);
+        mAsyncPanZoomController->HandleInputEvent(pinchEvent);
 
-      mState = GESTURE_PINCH;
-    } else {
+        mState = GESTURE_PINCH;
+      }
+
+      break;
+    }
+    case GESTURE_PINCH: {
       PinchGestureInput pinchEvent(PinchGestureInput::PINCHGESTURE_SCALE,
                                    aEvent.mTime,
                                    focusPoint,
@@ -190,6 +217,11 @@ nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInpu
                                    mPreviousSpan);
 
       mAsyncPanZoomController->HandleInputEvent(pinchEvent);
+      break;
+    }
+    default:
+      // What?
+      break;
     }
 
     mPreviousSpan = currentSpan;
diff --git a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h
index f1fced0f046d..2051bf5e0fed 100644
--- a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h
+++ b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h
@@ -61,7 +61,12 @@ protected:
   enum GestureState {
     // There's no gesture going on, and we don't think we're about to enter one.
     GESTURE_NONE,
-    // There's a pinch happening, which occurs when there are two touch inputs.
+    // We have detected that two or more fingers are on the screen, but there
+    // hasn't been enough movement yet to make us start actually zooming the
+    // screen.
+    GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH,
+    // There are two or more fingers on the screen, and the user has already
+    // pinched enough for us to start zooming the screen.
     GESTURE_PINCH,
     // A touch start has happened and it may turn into a tap. We use this
     // because, if we put down two fingers and then lift them very quickly, this
@@ -137,6 +142,14 @@ protected:
    */
   GestureState mState;
 
+  /**
+   * Total change in span since we detected a pinch gesture. Only used when we
+   * are in the |GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH| state and need to know how far zoomed
+   * out we are compared to our original pinch span. Note that this does _not_
+   * continue to be updated once we jump into the |GESTURE_PINCH| state.
+   */
+  float mSpanChange;
+
   /**
    * Previous span calculated for the purposes of setting inside a
    * PinchGestureInput.