diff --git a/mobile/android/base/TextSelection.java b/mobile/android/base/TextSelection.java
index 8a4a2c689241..988474244027 100644
--- a/mobile/android/base/TextSelection.java
+++ b/mobile/android/base/TextSelection.java
@@ -111,12 +111,13 @@ class TextSelection extends Layer implements GeckoEventListener {
                         try {
                             for (int i=0; i < positions.length(); i++) {
                                 JSONObject position = positions.getJSONObject(i);
-                                String handle = position.getString("handle");
                                 int left = position.getInt("left");
                                 int top = position.getInt("top");
 
-                                getHandle(handle).positionFromGecko(left, top);
-                             }
+                                TextSelectionHandle handle = getHandle(position.getString("handle"));
+                                handle.setVisibility(position.getBoolean("hidden") ? View.GONE : View.VISIBLE);
+                                handle.positionFromGecko(left, top);
+                            }
                         } catch (Exception e) { }
                     }
                 });
diff --git a/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js b/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
index a9589f8d8b03..6ac03b8c00a2 100644
--- a/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
+++ b/mobile/android/chrome/content/browser.js
@@ -2035,19 +2035,42 @@ var SelectionHandler = {
     let scrollX = {}, scrollY = {};
     this._view.top.QueryInterface(Ci.nsIInterfaceRequestor).getInterface(Ci.nsIDOMWindowUtils).getScrollXY(false, scrollX, scrollY);
 
+    // the checkHidden function tests to see if the given point is hidden inside an
+    // iframe/subdocument. this is so that if we select some text inside an iframe and
+    // scroll the iframe so the selection is out of view, we hide the handles rather
+    // than having them float on top of the main page content.
+    let checkHidden = function(x, y) {
+      return false;
+    };
+    if (this._view.frameElement) {
+      let bounds = this._view.frameElement.getBoundingClientRect();
+      checkHidden = function(x, y) {
+        return x < 0 || y < 0 || x > bounds.width || y > bounds.height;
+      }
+    }
+
     let positions = null;
     if (this._activeType == this.TYPE_CURSOR) {
       let cursor = this._cwu.sendQueryContentEvent(this._cwu.QUERY_CARET_RECT, this._target.selectionEnd, 0, 0, 0);
+      let x = cursor.left;
+      let y = cursor.top + cursor.height;
       positions = [ { handle: this.HANDLE_TYPE_MIDDLE,
-                     left: cursor.left + offset.x + scrollX.value,
-                     top: cursor.top + cursor.height + offset.y + scrollY.value } ];
+                     left: x + offset.x + scrollX.value,
+                     top: y + offset.y + scrollY.value,
+                     hidden: checkHidden(x, y) } ];
     } else {
+      let sx = this.cache.start.x;
+      let sy = this.cache.start.y;
+      let ex = this.cache.end.x;
+      let ey = this.cache.end.y;
       positions = [ { handle: this.HANDLE_TYPE_START,
-                     left: this.cache.start.x + offset.x + scrollX.value,
-                     top: this.cache.start.y + offset.y + scrollY.value },
+                     left: sx + offset.x + scrollX.value,
+                     top: sy + offset.y + scrollY.value,
+                     hidden: checkHidden(sx, sy) },
                    { handle: this.HANDLE_TYPE_END,
-                     left: this.cache.end.x + offset.x + scrollX.value,
-                     top: this.cache.end.y + offset.y + scrollY.value } ];
+                     left: ex + offset.x + scrollX.value,
+                     top: ey + offset.y + scrollY.value,
+                     hidden: checkHidden(ex, ey) } ];
     }
 
     sendMessageToJava({