diff --git a/dom/public/idl/base/nsIDOMWindowUtils.idl b/dom/public/idl/base/nsIDOMWindowUtils.idl
index 0b0db5f1b67..18792cd4895 100644
--- a/dom/public/idl/base/nsIDOMWindowUtils.idl
+++ b/dom/public/idl/base/nsIDOMWindowUtils.idl
@@ -45,7 +45,9 @@
  * getInterface on a DOMWindow.
  */
 
-[scriptable, uuid(76cdfff8-6f13-43e8-9ed4-36066cd83742)]
+interface nsIDOMElement;
+
+[scriptable, uuid(1F313394-73AB-41BF-8307-9FC5DA8A481E)]
 interface nsIDOMWindowUtils : nsISupports {
 
   /**
@@ -126,4 +128,13 @@ interface nsIDOMWindowUtils : nsISupports {
                     in long aKeyCode,
                     in long aCharCode,
                     in long aModifiers);
+
+  /**
+   * Focus the element aElement. The element should be in the same document
+   * that the window is displaying. Pass null to blur the element, if any,
+   * that currently has focus, and focus the document.
+   *
+   * @param aElement the element to focus
+   */
+  void focus(in nsIDOMElement aElement);
 };
diff --git a/dom/src/base/nsDOMWindowUtils.cpp b/dom/src/base/nsDOMWindowUtils.cpp
index 560342bab9e..8330bbd6663 100644
--- a/dom/src/base/nsDOMWindowUtils.cpp
+++ b/dom/src/base/nsDOMWindowUtils.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #include "nsGlobalWindow.h"
 #include "nsIDocument.h"
 #include "nsIFocusController.h"
+#include "nsIEventStateManager.h"
 
 #include "nsContentUtils.h"
 
@@ -270,3 +271,32 @@ nsDOMWindowUtils::GetWidget()
 
   return nsnull;
 }
+
+NS_IMETHODIMP
+nsDOMWindowUtils::Focus(nsIDOMElement* aElement)
+{
+  if (mWindow) {
+    nsCOMPtr<nsIContent> content = do_QueryInterface(aElement);
+    if (content) {
+      nsCOMPtr<nsIDocument> doc(do_QueryInterface(mWindow->GetExtantDocument()));
+      if (!doc || content->GetCurrentDoc() != doc)
+        return NS_ERROR_FAILURE;
+    }
+
+    nsIDocShell *docShell = mWindow->GetDocShell();
+    if (docShell) {
+      nsCOMPtr<nsIPresShell> presShell;
+      docShell->GetPresShell(getter_AddRefs(presShell));
+      if (presShell) {
+        nsPresContext *pc = presShell->GetPresContext();
+        if (pc) {
+          pc->EventStateManager()->ChangeFocusWith(content,
+              nsIEventStateManager::eEventFocusedByApplication);
+        }
+      }
+    }
+  }
+
+  return NS_OK;
+}
+
diff --git a/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbrowser.xml b/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbrowser.xml
index 4117f1f3113..77b49126533 100644
--- a/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbrowser.xml
+++ b/toolkit/content/widgets/tabbrowser.xml
@@ -695,7 +695,15 @@
                 // Clear focus outline before we draw on top of it.
                 // Only blur the focused element if it isn't a tab, 
                 // to avoid breaking keyboard tab navigation
-                this.mCurrentBrowser.focusedElement.blur();
+                var elem = this.mCurrentBrowser.focusedElement;
+                if (elem instanceof HTMLElement || elem instanceof XULElement) {
+                  elem.blur();
+                }
+                else {
+                  var content = elem.ownerDocument.defaultView;
+                  if (content instanceof Components.interfaces.nsIInterfaceRequestor)
+                    content.getInterface(Components.interfaces.nsIDOMWindowUtils).focus(null);
+                }
               }
               this.mCurrentBrowser.setAttribute("type", "content-targetable");
             }
@@ -801,7 +809,16 @@
                         .getService(Components.interfaces.nsIWindowWatcher);
             if (ww.activeWindow == window) {
               cmdDispatcher.suppressFocusScroll = true;
-              whatToFocus.focus();
+              if (whatToFocus instanceof HTMLElement ||
+                  whatToFocus instanceof XULElement ||
+                  whatToFocus instanceof Window) {
+                whatToFocus.focus();
+              }
+              else if (whatToFocus instanceof Node) {
+                var content = window.content;
+                if (content instanceof Components.interfaces.nsIInterfaceRequestor)
+                  content.getInterface(Components.interfaces.nsIDOMWindowUtils).focus(whatToFocus);
+              }
               cmdDispatcher.suppressFocusScroll = false;
             }
             else {