--- a/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
+++ b/browser/base/content/tabbrowser.xml
@@ -1418,21 +1418,23 @@
           oldBrowser._urlbarFocused = (gURLBar && gURLBar.focused);
 
           if (this.isFindBarInitialized(oldTab)) {
             let findBar = this.getFindBar(oldTab);
             oldTab._findBarFocused = (!findBar.hidden &&
               findBar._findField.getAttribute("focused") == "true");
           }
 
-          let activeEl = document.activeElement;
-          // In e10s, if focus isn't already in the tabstrip or on the new browser,
-          // and the new browser's previous focus wasn't in the url bar but focus is
-          // there now, we need to adjust focus further.
-          if (gMultiProcessBrowser && activeEl != newBrowser && activeEl != newTab) {
+          // If focus is in the tab bar, retain it there.
+          if (document.activeElement == oldTab) {
+            // We need to explicitly focus the new tab, because
+            // tabbox.xml does this only in some cases.
+            newTab.focus();
+          } else if (gMultiProcessBrowser && document.activeElement !== newBrowser) {
+
             let keepFocusOnUrlBar = newBrowser &&
                                     newBrowser._urlbarFocused &&
                                     gURLBar &&
                                     gURLBar.focused;
             if (!keepFocusOnUrlBar) {
               // Clear focus so that _adjustFocusAfterTabSwitch can detect if
               // some element has been focused and respect that.
               document.activeElement.blur();