diff --git a/src/standard/gestures.html b/src/standard/gestures.html
index 42ade2c014..c87401e7d3 100644
--- a/src/standard/gestures.html
+++ b/src/standard/gestures.html
@@ -124,8 +124,8 @@
       var bcr = t.getBoundingClientRect();
       // use page x/y to account for scrolling
       var x = ev.pageX, y = ev.pageY;
-      return (x >= bcr.left && x <= bcr.right) &&
-        (y >= bcr.top && y <= bcr.bottom);
+      // ev is a synthetic click if the position is outside the bounding box of the target
+      return !((x >= bcr.left && x <= bcr.right) && (y >= bcr.top && y <= bcr.bottom));
     }
     return false;
   }
diff --git a/test/unit/gestures.html b/test/unit/gestures.html
index 0a10a8283f..e77a45e344 100644
--- a/test/unit/gestures.html
+++ b/test/unit/gestures.html
@@ -54,6 +54,8 @@
       });
 
       test('HTMLElement.click triggers tap', function() {
+        // put the element off screen to prevent x/y weirdness from .click()
+        app.style.cssText = 'position: absolute; left: -1000px; top: -1000px;';
         // make a mousedown *very* far away to tickle the distance check
         var ev = new CustomEvent('mousedown');
         ev.clientX = 1e8;