--- a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp
+++ b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.cpp
@@ -188,30 +188,34 @@ nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::Hand
 
     if (!mTouches.Length()) {
       mSpanChange = 0.0f;
     }
 
     break;
   }
   case MultiTouchInput::MULTITOUCH_CANCEL:
-    // This gets called if there's a touch that has to bail for weird reasons
-    // like pinching and then moving away from the window that the pinch was
-    // started in without letting go of the screen.
-    return HandlePinchGestureEvent(aEvent, true);
+    // FIXME: we should probably clear a bunch of gesture state here
+    break;
   }
 
-  return HandlePinchGestureEvent(aEvent, false);
+  return HandlePinchGestureEvent(aEvent);
 }
 
-nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInput& aEvent, bool aClearTouches)
+nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInput& aEvent)
 {
   nsEventStatus rv = nsEventStatus_eIgnore;
 
-  if (mTouches.Length() > 1 && !aClearTouches) {
+  if (aEvent.mType == MultiTouchInput::MULTITOUCH_CANCEL) {
+    mTouches.Clear();
+    mState = GESTURE_NONE;
+    return rv;
+  }
+
+  if (mTouches.Length() > 1) {
     const ScreenIntPoint& firstTouch = mTouches[0].mScreenPoint,
                          secondTouch = mTouches[1].mScreenPoint;
     ScreenPoint focusPoint = ScreenPoint(firstTouch + secondTouch) / 2;
     ScreenIntPoint delta = secondTouch - firstTouch;
     float currentSpan = float(NS_hypot(delta.x, delta.y));
 
     switch (mState) {
     case GESTURE_NONE:
@@ -278,20 +282,16 @@ nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::Hand
       mAsyncPanZoomController->HandleInputEvent(touchEvent);
     }
 
     rv = nsEventStatus_eConsumeNoDefault;
   } else if (mState == GESTURE_WAITING_PINCH) {
     mState = GESTURE_NONE;
   }
 
-  if (aClearTouches) {
-    mTouches.Clear();
-  }
-
   return rv;
 }
 
 nsEventStatus GestureEventListener::HandleSingleTapUpEvent(const MultiTouchInput& aEvent)
 {
   TapGestureInput tapEvent(TapGestureInput::TAPGESTURE_UP, aEvent.mTime,
       aEvent.mTouches[0].mScreenPoint, aEvent.modifiers);
   return mAsyncPanZoomController->HandleInputEvent(tapEvent);

--- a/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h
+++ b/gfx/layers/ipc/GestureEventListener.h
@@ -89,21 +89,18 @@ protected:
     // A long tap has happened, wait for the tap to be released in case we need
     // to fire a click event in the case the long tap was not handled.
     GESTURE_LONG_TAP_UP
   };
 
   /**
    * Attempts to handle the event as a pinch event. If it is not a pinch event,
    * then we simply tell the next consumer to consume the event instead.
-   *
-   * |aClearTouches| marks whether or not to terminate any pinch currently
-   * happening.
    */
-  nsEventStatus HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInput& aEvent, bool aClearTouches);
+  nsEventStatus HandlePinchGestureEvent(const MultiTouchInput& aEvent);
 
   /**
    * Attempts to handle the event as a single tap event, which highlights links
    * before opening them. In general, this will not attempt to block the touch
    * event from being passed along to AsyncPanZoomController since APZC needs to
    * know about touches ending (and we only know if a touch was a tap once it
    * ends).
    */