diff --git a/mobile/android/base/GeckoApp.java b/mobile/android/base/GeckoApp.java
index 7618d6f2d1c7..3c73e7df7ccb 100644
--- a/mobile/android/base/GeckoApp.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/GeckoApp.java
@@ -1130,7 +1130,7 @@ abstract public class GeckoApp
     }
 
     void handleLinkAdded(final int tabId, String rel, final String href) {
-        if (rel.indexOf("icon") != -1) {
+        if (rel.indexOf("[icon]") != -1) {
             final Tab tab = Tabs.getInstance().getTab(tabId);
             if (tab != null) {
                 tab.updateFaviconURL(href);
diff --git a/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js b/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
index a5bbded30066..d5cdb0cc6a30 100644
--- a/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
+++ b/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
@@ -1235,13 +1235,24 @@ Tab.prototype = {
         if (target.ownerDocument.defaultView != this.browser.contentWindow)
           return;
 
+        // sanitize the rel string
+        let list = [];
+        if (target.rel) {
+          list = target.rel.toLowerCase().split(/\s+/);
+          let hash = {};
+          list.forEach(function(value) { hash[value] = true; });
+          list = [];
+          for (let rel in hash)
+            list.push("[" + rel + "]");
+        }
+
         let json = {
           type: "DOMLinkAdded",
           tabID: this.id,
           href: resolveGeckoURI(target.href),
           charset: target.ownerDocument.characterSet,
           title: target.title,
-          rel: target.rel
+          rel: list.join(" ")
         };
 
         // rel=icon can also have a sizes attribute