diff --git a/src/component/base/DraftEditorProps.js b/src/component/base/DraftEditorProps.js
index 134497590b..9a0a589681 100644
--- a/src/component/base/DraftEditorProps.js
+++ b/src/component/base/DraftEditorProps.js
@@ -180,6 +180,11 @@ export type DraftEditorProps = {
   // is used for both rendering and paste processing.
   blockRenderMap: DraftBlockRenderMap,
 
+  // When the Editor loses focus (blurs) text selections are cleared
+  // by default to mimic <textarea> behaviour, however in some situations
+  // users may wish to preserve native behaviour.
+  preserveSelectionOnBlur?: boolean,
+
   // Overrides for cut, copy & paste, which can be used to implement custom
   // behavior like entity cut/copy/paste (see PR #1784)."
   onPaste?: (DraftEditor, SyntheticClipboardEvent<>) => void,
diff --git a/src/component/handlers/edit/__tests__/editOnBlur-test.js b/src/component/handlers/edit/__tests__/editOnBlur-test.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ec94ca5b2f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/component/handlers/edit/__tests__/editOnBlur-test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,104 @@
+/**
+ * Copyright (c) Facebook, Inc. and its affiliates.
+ *
+ * This source code is licensed under the MIT license found in the
+ * LICENSE file in the root directory of this source tree.
+ *
+ * @emails oncall+draft_js
+ * @format
+ */
+
+'use strict';
+
+jest.disableAutomock();
+
+const ContentBlock = require('ContentBlock');
+const ContentState = require('ContentState');
+const EditorState = require('EditorState');
+
+const onBlur = require('editOnBlur');
+
+const getEditorState = (text: string = 'Arsenal') => {
+  return EditorState.createWithContent(
+    ContentState.createFromBlockArray([
+      new ContentBlock({
+        key: 'a',
+        text,
+      }),
+    ]),
+  );
+};
+
+const getBlurEvent = data => ({
+  data,
+});
+
+function withGlobalGetSelectionAs(getSelectionValue = {}, callback) {
+  const oldGetSelection = global.getSelection;
+  try {
+    global.getSelection = () => {
+      return getSelectionValue;
+    };
+    callback();
+  } finally {
+    global.getSelection = oldGetSelection;
+  }
+}
+
+test('editor removes selection on blur (default behaviour)', () => {
+  const anchorNodeText = 'react draftjs';
+  const anchorNode = document.createTextNode(anchorNodeText);
+  const globalSelection = {
+    anchorNode,
+    focusNode: anchorNode,
+    removeAllRanges: jest.fn(),
+    rangeCount: 1,
+  };
+
+  const editorNode = document.createElement('div');
+  editorNode.appendChild(anchorNode);
+
+  withGlobalGetSelectionAs(globalSelection, () => {
+    const editorState = getEditorState(anchorNodeText);
+    const editor = {
+      _latestEditorState: editorState,
+      props: {
+        preserveSelectionOnBlur: false,
+      },
+      editor: editorNode,
+    };
+
+    onBlur(editor, getBlurEvent());
+
+    expect(globalSelection.removeAllRanges).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
+  });
+});
+
+test('editor preserves selection on blur', () => {
+  const anchorNodeText = 'react draftjs';
+  const anchorNode = document.createTextNode(anchorNodeText);
+  const globalSelection = {
+    anchorNode,
+    focusNode: anchorNode,
+    removeAllRanges: jest.fn(),
+    rangeCount: 1,
+  };
+
+  const editorNode = document.createElement('div');
+  editorNode.appendChild(anchorNode);
+
+  withGlobalGetSelectionAs(globalSelection, () => {
+    const editorState = getEditorState(anchorNodeText);
+    const editor = {
+      _latestEditorState: editorState,
+      props: {
+        preserveSelectionOnBlur: true,
+      },
+      editor: editorNode,
+    };
+
+    onBlur(editor, getBlurEvent());
+
+    expect(globalSelection.removeAllRanges).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(0);
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/component/handlers/edit/editOnBlur.js b/src/component/handlers/edit/editOnBlur.js
index b70ba04433..5260a52fd5 100644
--- a/src/component/handlers/edit/editOnBlur.js
+++ b/src/component/handlers/edit/editOnBlur.js
@@ -27,7 +27,12 @@ function editOnBlur(editor: DraftEditor, e: SyntheticEvent<>): void {
   // We therefore force the issue to be certain, checking whether the active
   // element is `body` to force it when blurring occurs within the window (as
   // opposed to clicking to another tab or window).
-  if (getActiveElement() === document.body) {
+  // However if users wish to override this behaviour they can provide
+  // a prop preserveSelectionOnBlur of `true`.
+  if (
+    !editor.props.preserveSelectionOnBlur &&
+    getActiveElement() === document.body
+  ) {
     const selection = global.getSelection();
     const editorNode = editor.editor;
     if (