diff --git a/lib/OpenLayers/Handler/Feature.js b/lib/OpenLayers/Handler/Feature.js
index 4baee15692..35f9a921ed 100644
--- a/lib/OpenLayers/Handler/Feature.js
+++ b/lib/OpenLayers/Handler/Feature.js
@@ -56,6 +56,13 @@ OpenLayers.Handler.Feature = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Handler, {
      * {<OpenLayers.Pixel>} The location of the last mouseup.
      */
     up: null,
+
+    /**
+     * Property: touch
+     * {Boolean} When a touchstart event is fired, touch will be true and all
+     *     mouse related listeners will do nothing.
+     */
+    touch: false,
     
     /**
      * Property: clickTolerance
@@ -129,9 +136,33 @@ OpenLayers.Handler.Feature = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Handler, {
      * {Boolean} Let the event propagate.
      */
     touchstart: function(evt) {
+        if(!this.touch) {
+            this.touch =  true;
+            this.map.events.un({
+                mousedown: this.mousedown,
+                mouseup: this.mouseup,
+                mousemove: this.mousemove,
+                click: this.click,
+                dblclick: this.dblclick,
+                scope: this
+            });
+        }
         return this.mousedown(evt);
     },
 
+    /**
+     * Method: touchmove
+     * Handle touchmove events. We just prevent the browser default behavior,
+     *    for Android Safari not to select text when moving the finger after
+     *    selecting a feature.
+     *
+     * Parameters:
+     * evt - {Event}
+     */
+    touchmove: function(evt) {
+        OpenLayers.Event.stop(evt);
+    },
+
     /**
      * Method: mousedown
      * Handle mouse down.  Stop propagation if a feature is targeted by this
@@ -251,6 +282,11 @@ OpenLayers.Handler.Feature = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Handler, {
             this.lastFeature = null;
         }
         if(this.feature) {
+            if(evt.type === "touchstart") {
+                // stop the event to prevent Android Safari from
+                // "flashing" the map div
+                OpenLayers.Event.stop(evt);
+            }
             var inNew = (this.feature != this.lastFeature);
             if(this.geometryTypeMatches(this.feature)) {
                 // in to a feature
@@ -349,6 +385,7 @@ OpenLayers.Handler.Feature = OpenLayers.Class(OpenLayers.Handler, {
             this.lastFeature = null;
             this.down = null;
             this.up = null;
+            this.touch = false;
             this.map.events.un({
                 "removelayer": this.handleMapEvents,
                 "changelayer": this.handleMapEvents,
diff --git a/tests/Handler/Feature.html b/tests/Handler/Feature.html
index e1131362c9..4c3641aa33 100644
--- a/tests/Handler/Feature.html
+++ b/tests/Handler/Feature.html
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         
     }
     function test_events(t) {
-        t.plan(30);
+        t.plan(35);
         
         var map = new OpenLayers.Map('map');
         var control = new OpenLayers.Control();
@@ -64,8 +64,8 @@
  
         // list below events that should be handled (events) and those
         // that should not be handled (nonevents) by the handler
-        var events = ["mousedown", "mouseup", "mousemove", "click", "dblclick", "touchstart"];
-        var nonevents = ["mouseout", "resize", "focus", "blur"];
+        var events = ["mousedown", "mouseup", "mousemove", "click", "dblclick", "touchstart", "touchmove"];
+        var nonevents = ["mouseout", "resize", "focus", "blur", "touchend"];
         map.events.registerPriority = function(type, obj, func) {
             var output = func();
             // Don't listen for setEvent handlers (#902)
@@ -255,6 +255,82 @@
         map.events.triggerEvent('touchstart', evtPx);
     }
 
+    function test_touchstart(t) {
+        // a test to verify that the touchstart function does
+        // unregister the mouse listeners when it's called the
+        // first time
+
+        t.plan(4);
+
+        // set up
+
+        var map = new OpenLayers.Map('map', {controls: []});
+        var control = new OpenLayers.Control();
+        map.addControl(control);
+        var layer = new OpenLayers.Layer();
+        map.addLayer(layer);
+
+        var handler = new OpenLayers.Handler.Feature(control, layer, {});
+        handler.mousedown = function() {}; // mock mousedown
+        handler.activate();
+
+        function allRegistered() {
+            var eventTypes = ['mousedown', 'mouseup', 'mousemove', 'click', 'dblclick'],
+                eventType,
+                listeners,
+                listener,
+                flag;
+            for(var i=0, ilen=eventTypes.length; i<ilen; i++) {
+                flag =  false;
+                eventType = eventTypes[i];
+                listeners = map.events.listeners[eventType];
+                for(var j=0, jlen=listeners.length; j<jlen; j++) {
+                    listener = listeners[j];
+                    if(listener.func === handler[eventType] && listener.obj === handler) {
+                        flag = true;
+                        break;
+                    }
+                }
+                if(!flag) {
+                    return false;
+                }
+            }
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        function noneRegistered() {
+            var eventTypes = ['mousedown', 'mouseup', 'mousemove', 'click', 'dblclick'],
+                eventType,
+                listeners,
+                listener;
+            for(var i=0, ilen=eventTypes.length; i<ilen; i++) {
+                eventType = eventTypes[i];
+                listeners = map.events.listeners[eventType];
+                for(var j=0, jlen=listeners.length; j<jlen; j++) {
+                    listener = listeners[j];
+                    if(listener.func === handler[eventType] && listener.obj === handler) {
+                        return false;
+                    }
+                }
+            }
+            return true;
+        }
+
+        // test
+
+        t.ok(allRegistered(), 'mouse listeners are registered');
+        handler.touchstart({xy: new OpenLayers.Pixel(0, 0)});
+        t.ok(noneRegistered(), 'mouse listeners are unregistered');
+        t.ok(handler.touch, 'handler.touch is set');
+
+        handler.deactivate();
+        t.ok(!handler.touch, 'handler.touch is not set');
+
+        // tear down
+
+        map.destroy();
+    }
+
     function test_deactivate(t) {
         t.plan(3);
         var map = new OpenLayers.Map('map');