diff --git a/docs/content/error/httpBackend/noxhr.ngdoc b/docs/content/error/httpBackend/noxhr.ngdoc
deleted file mode 100644
index 3ac5244c8c8e..000000000000
--- a/docs/content/error/httpBackend/noxhr.ngdoc
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,9 +0,0 @@
-@ngdoc error
-@name $httpBackend:noxhr
-@fullName Unsupported XHR
-@description
-
-This error occurs in browsers that do not support XmlHttpRequest. AngularJS
-supports Safari, Chrome, Firefox, Opera, IE8 and higher, and mobile browsers
-(Android, Chrome Mobile, iOS Safari). To avoid this error, use an officially
-supported browser.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/ng/httpBackend.js b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
index 0bfe2fc32254..ffc51abf2957 100644
--- a/src/ng/httpBackend.js
+++ b/src/ng/httpBackend.js
@@ -1,12 +1,12 @@
 'use strict';
 
-var XHR = window.XMLHttpRequest || function() {
+function createXhr(method) {
+  // IE8 doesn't support PATCH method, but the ActiveX object does
   /* global ActiveXObject */
-  try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.6.0"); } catch (e1) {}
-  try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP.3.0"); } catch (e2) {}
-  try { return new ActiveXObject("Msxml2.XMLHTTP"); } catch (e3) {}
-  throw minErr('$httpBackend')('noxhr', "This browser does not support XMLHttpRequest.");
-};
+  return (msie <= 8 && lowercase(method) === 'patch')
+      ? new ActiveXObject('Microsoft.XMLHTTP')
+      : new window.XMLHttpRequest();
+}
 
 
 /**
@@ -28,11 +28,11 @@ var XHR = window.XMLHttpRequest || function() {
  */
 function $HttpBackendProvider() {
   this.$get = ['$browser', '$window', '$document', function($browser, $window, $document) {
-    return createHttpBackend($browser, XHR, $browser.defer, $window.angular.callbacks, $document[0]);
+    return createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browser.defer, $window.angular.callbacks, $document[0]);
   }];
 }
 
-function createHttpBackend($browser, XHR, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDocument) {
+function createHttpBackend($browser, createXhr, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDocument) {
   var ABORTED = -1;
 
   // TODO(vojta): fix the signature
@@ -57,7 +57,9 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, XHR, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDocument)
         delete callbacks[callbackId];
       });
     } else {
-      var xhr = new XHR();
+
+      var xhr = createXhr(method);
+
       xhr.open(method, url, true);
       forEach(headers, function(value, key) {
         if (isDefined(value)) {
@@ -73,7 +75,9 @@ function createHttpBackend($browser, XHR, $browserDefer, callbacks, rawDocument)
           // onreadystatechange might by called multiple times
           // with readyState === 4 on mobile webkit caused by
           // xhrs that are resolved while the app is in the background (see #5426).
-          xhr.onreadystatechange = undefined;
+          //
+          // we must delete the property instead of setting it to undefined/null to make IE8 happy.
+          delete xhr.onreadystatechange;
 
           var responseHeaders = null,
               response = null;
diff --git a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
index d11ef0c1ac23..fb7ef0573c20 100644
--- a/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
+++ b/src/ngMock/angular-mocks.js
@@ -1572,6 +1572,10 @@ function MockHttpExpectation(method, url, data, headers) {
   };
 }
 
+function createMockXhr() {
+  return new MockXhr();
+}
+
 function MockXhr() {
 
   // hack for testing $http, $httpBackend
diff --git a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
index 5a392538939a..7302de003234 100644
--- a/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
+++ b/test/ng/httpBackendSpec.js
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
         })
       }
     };
-    $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, MockXhr, fakeTimeout, callbacks, fakeDocument);
+    $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, createMockXhr, fakeTimeout, callbacks, fakeDocument);
     callback = jasmine.createSpy('done');
   }));
 
@@ -250,7 +250,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
       expect(response).toBe('response');
     });
 
-    $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, SyncXhr);
+    $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, function() { return new SyncXhr() });
     $backend('GET', '/url', null, callback);
     expect(callback).toHaveBeenCalledOnce();
   });
@@ -426,7 +426,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
 
 
     it('should convert 0 to 200 if content', function() {
-      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, MockXhr);
+      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, createMockXhr);
 
       $backend('GET', 'file:///whatever/index.html', null, callback);
       respond(0, 'SOME CONTENT');
@@ -437,7 +437,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
 
 
     it('should convert 0 to 404 if no content', function() {
-      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, MockXhr);
+      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, createMockXhr);
 
       $backend('GET', 'file:///whatever/index.html', null, callback);
       respond(0, '');
@@ -465,7 +465,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
 
       try {
 
-        $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, MockXhr);
+        $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, createMockXhr);
 
         $backend('GET', '/whatever/index.html', null, callback);
         respond(0, '');
@@ -480,7 +480,7 @@ describe('$httpBackend', function() {
 
 
     it('should return original backend status code if different from 0', function () {
-      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, MockXhr);
+      $backend = createHttpBackend($browser, createMockXhr);
 
       // request to http://
       $backend('POST', 'http://rest_api/create_whatever', null, callback);