diff --git a/src/components/language-selector/language-selector.jsx b/src/components/language-selector/language-selector.jsx
index 864c4848fd774a32c9bd712fb2d0883d185b47aa..2175db56429d8aa1e214a2d1bd01ae0dcfc54429 100644
--- a/src/components/language-selector/language-selector.jsx
+++ b/src/components/language-selector/language-selector.jsx
@@ -7,10 +7,11 @@ import styles from './language-selector.css';
 // supported languages to exclude from the menu, but allow as a URL option
 const ignore = [];
 
-const LanguageSelector = ({currentLocale, label, onChange}) => (
+const LanguageSelector = ({componentRef, currentLocale, label, onChange}) => (
     <select
         aria-label={label}
         className={styles.languageSelect}
+        ref={componentRef}
         value={currentLocale}
         onChange={onChange}
     >
@@ -30,6 +31,7 @@ const LanguageSelector = ({currentLocale, label, onChange}) => (
 );
 
 LanguageSelector.propTypes = {
+    componentRef: PropTypes.func,
     currentLocale: PropTypes.string,
     label: PropTypes.string,
     onChange: PropTypes.func
diff --git a/src/containers/language-selector.jsx b/src/containers/language-selector.jsx
index 1672949a3716ea11b88a71b5e53dbf389886af24..fe24812bd82892621673308f866ee9b6486686a7 100644
--- a/src/containers/language-selector.jsx
+++ b/src/containers/language-selector.jsx
@@ -11,10 +11,31 @@ class LanguageSelector extends React.Component {
     constructor (props) {
         super(props);
         bindAll(this, [
-            'handleChange'
+            'handleChange',
+            'handleMouseOut',
+            'ref'
         ]);
         document.documentElement.lang = props.currentLocale;
     }
+    componentDidMount () {
+        this.addListeners();
+    }
+
+    componentWillUnmount () {
+        this.removeListeners();
+    }
+    addListeners () {
+        this.select.addEventListener('mouseout', this.handleMouseOut);
+    }
+    removeListeners () {
+        this.select.removeEventListener('mouseout', this.handleMouseOut);
+    }
+    handleMouseOut () {
+        this.select.blur();
+    }
+    ref (c) {
+        this.select = c;
+    }
     handleChange (e) {
         const newLocale = e.target.value;
         if (this.props.messagesByLocale[newLocale]) {
@@ -31,6 +52,7 @@ class LanguageSelector extends React.Component {
         } = this.props;
         return (
             <LanguageSelectorComponent
+                componentRef={this.ref}
                 onChange={this.handleChange}
                 {...props}
             >