diff --git a/src/components/menu/js/menuController.js b/src/components/menu/js/menuController.js
index 9099f541026..0bf5097233f 100644
--- a/src/components/menu/js/menuController.js
+++ b/src/components/menu/js/menuController.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ function MenuController($mdMenu, $attrs, $element, $scope, $mdUtil, $timeout, $r
     // Default element for ARIA attributes has the ngClick or ngMouseenter expression
     triggerElement = $element[0].querySelector('[ng-click],[ng-mouseenter]');
 
+    this.isInMenuBar = opts.isInMenuBar;
     this.nestedMenus = $mdUtil.nodesToArray(menuContainer[0].querySelectorAll('.md-nested-menu'));
 
     menuContainer.on('$mdInterimElementRemove', function() {
@@ -117,7 +118,7 @@ function MenuController($mdMenu, $attrs, $element, $scope, $mdUtil, $timeout, $r
       element: menuContainer,
       target: triggerElement,
       preserveElement: true,
-      parent: $element
+      parent: 'body'
     }).finally(function() {
       self.disableHoverListener();
     });
@@ -128,14 +129,12 @@ function MenuController($mdMenu, $attrs, $element, $scope, $mdUtil, $timeout, $r
 
   $scope.$watch(function() { return self.isOpen; }, function(isOpen) {
     if (isOpen) {
-      triggerElement.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'true');
       menuContainer.attr('aria-hidden', 'false');
       $element[0].classList.add('md-open');
       angular.forEach(self.nestedMenus, function(el) {
         el.classList.remove('md-open');
       });
     } else {
-      triggerElement && triggerElement.setAttribute('aria-expanded', 'false');
       menuContainer.attr('aria-hidden', 'true');
       $element[0].classList.remove('md-open');
     }
diff --git a/src/components/menu/js/menuDirective.js b/src/components/menu/js/menuDirective.js
index 5046411d315..3cbc738b720 100644
--- a/src/components/menu/js/menuDirective.js
+++ b/src/components/menu/js/menuDirective.js
@@ -204,6 +204,10 @@ function MenuDirective($mdUtil) {
     }
     menuContainer.append(menuContents);
 
+    element.on('$destroy', function() {
+      menuContainer.remove();
+    });
+
     element.append(menuContainer);
     menuContainer[0].style.display = 'none';
     mdMenuCtrl.init(menuContainer, { isInMenuBar: isInMenuBar });
diff --git a/src/components/menu/js/menuServiceProvider.js b/src/components/menu/js/menuServiceProvider.js
index 45b2e1c11fa..30d31710b94 100644
--- a/src/components/menu/js/menuServiceProvider.js
+++ b/src/components/menu/js/menuServiceProvider.js
@@ -127,11 +127,8 @@ function MenuProvider($$interimElementProvider) {
        * Place the menu into the DOM and call positioning related functions
        */
       function showMenu() {
-        if (!opts.preserveElement) {
-          opts.parent.append(element);
-        } else {
-          element[0].style.display = '';
-        }
+        opts.parent.append(element);
+        element[0].style.display = '';
 
         return $q(function(resolve) {
           var position = calculateMenuPosition(element, opts);
@@ -294,7 +291,7 @@ function MenuProvider($$interimElementProvider) {
             if ((hasAnyAttribute(target, ['ng-click', 'ng-href', 'ui-sref']) ||
                 target.nodeName == 'BUTTON' || target.nodeName == 'MD-BUTTON') && !hasAnyAttribute(target, ['md-prevent-menu-close'])) {
               var closestMenu = $mdUtil.getClosest(target, 'MD-MENU');
-              if (!target.hasAttribute('disabled') && (closestMenu == opts.parent[0])) {
+              if (!target.hasAttribute('disabled') && (!closestMenu || closestMenu == opts.parent[0])) {
                 close();
               }
               break;
diff --git a/src/components/menu/menu.spec.js b/src/components/menu/menu.spec.js
index 85933daa6b9..bd73c3bf370 100644
--- a/src/components/menu/menu.spec.js
+++ b/src/components/menu/menu.spec.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-describe('material.components.menu', function() {
+ddescribe('material.components.menu', function() {
   var attachedElements = [];
   var $mdMenu, $timeout, menuActionPerformed, $mdUtil;
 
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ describe('material.components.menu', function() {
     $mdUtil = _$mdUtil_;
     $mdMenu = _$mdMenu_;
     $timeout = _$timeout_;
-    var abandonedMenus = $document[0].querySelectorAll('.md-menu-container');
+    var abandonedMenus = $document[0].querySelectorAll('.md-open-menu-container');
     angular.element(abandonedMenus).remove();
   }));
   afterEach(function() {
@@ -41,6 +41,23 @@ describe('material.components.menu', function() {
       expect(getOpenMenuContainer(menu).length).toBe(0);
     });
 
+    it('cleans up an open menu when the element leaves the DOM', function() {
+      var menu = setup();
+      openMenu(menu);
+      menu.remove();
+      expect(getOpenMenuContainer(menu).length).toBe(0);
+    });
+
+    it('sets up proper aria-owns and aria-haspopup relations between the button and the container', function() {
+      var menu = setup();
+      var button = menu[0].querySelector('button');
+      expect(button.hasAttribute('aria-haspopup')).toBe(true);
+      expect(button.hasAttribute('aria-owns')).toBe(true);
+      var ownsId = button.getAttribute('aria-owns');
+      openMenu(menu);
+      expect(getOpenMenuContainer(menu).attr('id')).toBe(ownsId);
+    });
+
     it('opens on click without $event', function() {
       var noEvent = true;
       var menu = setup('ng-click', noEvent);
@@ -98,7 +115,7 @@ describe('material.components.menu', function() {
       openMenu(menu);
       expect(getOpenMenuContainer(menu).length).toBe(1);
 
-      var openMenuEl = menu[0].querySelector('md-menu-content');
+      var openMenuEl = $document[0].querySelector('md-menu-content');
 
       pressKey(openMenuEl, $mdConstant.KEY_CODE.ESCAPE);
       waitForMenuClose();
@@ -197,21 +214,22 @@ describe('material.components.menu', function() {
   // ********************************************
 
   function getOpenMenuContainer(el) {
+    var res;
     el = (el instanceof angular.element) ? el[0] : el;
-    var container = el.querySelector('.md-open-menu-container');
-    if (container.style.display == 'none') {
-      return angular.element([]);
-    } else {
-      return angular.element(container);
-    }
+    inject(function($document) {
+      var container = $document[0].querySelector('.md-open-menu-container');
+      if (container && container.style.display == 'none') {
+        res = [];
+      } else {
+        res = angular.element(container);
+      }
+    });
+    return res;
   }
 
   function openMenu(el, triggerType) {
-    inject(function($document) {
-      el.children().eq(0).triggerHandler(triggerType || 'click');
-      $document[0].body.appendChild(el[0]);
-      waitForMenuOpen();
-    });
+    el.children().eq(0).triggerHandler(triggerType || 'click');
+    waitForMenuOpen();
   }
 
   function closeMenu() {