--- a/gfx/layers/apz/src/Axis.cpp
+++ b/gfx/layers/apz/src/Axis.cpp
@@ -44,19 +44,26 @@ void Axis::UpdateWithTouchAtDevicePoint(
     // update mPos so we don't run into problems like bug 1042734, even though
     // that means the velocity will be stale. Better than doing a divide-by-zero.
     mPos = aPos;
     return;
   }
 
   float newVelocity = mAxisLocked ? 0.0f : (float)(mPos - aPos) / (float)(aTimestampMs - mPosTimeMs);
   if (gfxPrefs::APZMaxVelocity() > 0.0f) {
+    bool velocityIsNegative = (newVelocity < 0);
+    newVelocity = fabs(newVelocity);
+
     ScreenPoint maxVelocity = MakePoint(gfxPrefs::APZMaxVelocity() * APZCTreeManager::GetDPI());
     mAsyncPanZoomController->ToLocalScreenCoordinates(&maxVelocity, mAsyncPanZoomController->PanStart());
     newVelocity = std::min(newVelocity, maxVelocity.Length());
+
+    if (velocityIsNegative) {
+      newVelocity = -newVelocity;
+    }
   }
 
   mVelocity = newVelocity;
   mPos = aPos;
   mPosTimeMs = aTimestampMs;
 
   // Limit queue size pased on pref
   mVelocityQueue.AppendElement(std::make_pair(aTimestampMs, mVelocity));