diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog-container.ts b/src/lib/dialog/dialog-container.ts
index f0fb04b6da6c..f8efe8da2d8e 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog-container.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog-container.ts
@@ -66,6 +66,7 @@ export function throwMdDialogContentAlreadyAttachedError() {
   ],
   host: {
     'class': 'mat-dialog-container',
+    'tabindex': '-1',
     '[attr.role]': '_config?.role',
     '[attr.aria-labelledby]': '_ariaLabelledBy',
     '[attr.aria-describedby]': '_config?.ariaDescribedBy || null',
@@ -155,7 +156,13 @@ export class MdDialogContainer extends BasePortalHost {
     // If were to attempt to focus immediately, then the content of the dialog would not yet be
     // ready in instances where change detection has to run first. To deal with this, we simply
     // wait for the microtask queue to be empty.
-    this._focusTrap.focusInitialElementWhenReady();
+    this._focusTrap.focusInitialElementWhenReady().then(hasMovedFocus => {
+      // If we didn't find any focusable elements inside the dialog, focus the
+      // container so the user can't tab into other elements behind it.
+      if (!hasMovedFocus) {
+        this._elementRef.nativeElement.focus();
+      }
+    });
   }
 
   /** Restores focus to the element that was focused before the dialog opened. */
diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.scss b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.scss
index dd6d21c965a0..ab09312d4aeb 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.scss
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.scss
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@ $mat-dialog-button-margin: 8px !default;
   box-sizing: border-box;
   overflow: auto;
   max-width: $mat-dialog-max-width;
+  outline: 0;
 
   // The dialog container should completely fill its parent overlay element.
   width: 100%;
diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.spec.ts b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.spec.ts
index 398fd269caa1..02064c04fc7d 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.spec.ts
@@ -679,6 +679,17 @@ describe('MdDialog', () => {
       document.body.removeChild(input);
     }));
 
+    it('should move focus to the container if there are no focusable elements in the dialog',
+      fakeAsync(() => {
+        dialog.open(DialogWithoutFocusableElements);
+
+        viewContainerFixture.detectChanges();
+        flushMicrotasks();
+
+        expect(document.activeElement.tagName)
+            .toBe('MD-DIALOG-CONTAINER', 'Expected dialog container to be focused.');
+      }));
+
   });
 
   describe('dialog content elements', () => {
@@ -893,6 +904,9 @@ class DialogWithInjectedData {
   constructor(@Inject(MD_DIALOG_DATA) public data: any) { }
 }
 
+@Component({template: '<p>Pasta</p>'})
+class DialogWithoutFocusableElements {}
+
 // Create a real (non-test) NgModule as a workaround for
 // https://github.com/angular/angular/issues/10760
 const TEST_DIRECTIVES = [
@@ -901,7 +915,8 @@ const TEST_DIRECTIVES = [
   DirectiveWithViewContainer,
   ComponentWithOnPushViewContainer,
   ContentElementDialog,
-  DialogWithInjectedData
+  DialogWithInjectedData,
+  DialogWithoutFocusableElements
 ];
 
 @NgModule({
@@ -912,7 +927,8 @@ const TEST_DIRECTIVES = [
     ComponentWithChildViewContainer,
     PizzaMsg,
     ContentElementDialog,
-    DialogWithInjectedData
+    DialogWithInjectedData,
+    DialogWithoutFocusableElements,
   ],
 })
 class DialogTestModule { }