diff --git a/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee b/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee
index 7ed4a106f..468adaf04 100644
--- a/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee
@@ -78,6 +78,19 @@ describe "TextEditorElement", ->
       jasmine.attachToDOM(element)
       expect(element.querySelectorAll('.decoration').length).toBe initialDecorationCount
 
+    it "can be re-focused using the previous `document.activeElement`", ->
+      editorElement = document.createElement('atom-text-editor')
+      jasmine.attachToDOM(editorElement)
+      editorElement.focus()
+
+      activeElement = document.activeElement
+
+      editorElement.remove()
+      jasmine.attachToDOM(editorElement)
+      activeElement.focus()
+
+      expect(editorElement.hasFocus()).toBe(true)
+
   describe "focus and blur handling", ->
     it "proxies focus/blur events to/from the hidden input", ->
       element = new TextEditorElement
diff --git a/src/input-component.coffee b/src/input-component.coffee
index b8081b0d6..27543a2fd 100644
--- a/src/input-component.coffee
+++ b/src/input-component.coffee
@@ -1,15 +1,6 @@
 module.exports =
 class InputComponent
-  constructor: ->
-    @domNode = document.createElement('input')
-    @domNode.classList.add('hidden-input')
-    @domNode.setAttribute('tabindex', -1)
-    @domNode.setAttribute('data-react-skip-selection-restoration', true)
-    @domNode.style['-webkit-transform'] = 'translateZ(0)'
-    @domNode.addEventListener 'paste', (event) -> event.preventDefault()
-
-  getDomNode: ->
-    @domNode
+  constructor: (@domNode) ->
 
   updateSync: (state) ->
     @oldState ?= {}
diff --git a/src/text-editor-component.coffee b/src/text-editor-component.coffee
index 8bf72d62d..e8591819f 100644
--- a/src/text-editor-component.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor-component.coffee
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ class TextEditorComponent
       @assert domNode?, "TextEditorComponent::domNode was set to null."
       @domNodeValue = domNode
 
-  constructor: ({@editor, @hostElement, tileSize, @views, @themes, @styles, @assert}) ->
+  constructor: ({@editor, @hostElement, tileSize, @views, @themes, @styles, @assert, hiddenInputElement}) ->
     @tileSize = tileSize if tileSize?
     @disposables = new CompositeDisposable
 
@@ -70,12 +70,12 @@ class TextEditorComponent
     @scrollViewNode.classList.add('scroll-view')
     @domNode.appendChild(@scrollViewNode)
 
-    @hiddenInputComponent = new InputComponent
-    @scrollViewNode.appendChild(@hiddenInputComponent.getDomNode())
+    @hiddenInputComponent = new InputComponent(hiddenInputElement)
+    @scrollViewNode.appendChild(hiddenInputElement)
     # Add a getModel method to the hidden input component to make it easy to
     # access the editor in response to DOM events or when using
     # document.activeElement.
-    @hiddenInputComponent.getDomNode().getModel = => @editor
+    hiddenInputElement.getModel = => @editor
 
     @linesComponent = new LinesComponent({@presenter, @domElementPool, @assert, @grammars, @views})
     @scrollViewNode.appendChild(@linesComponent.getDomNode())
@@ -346,7 +346,6 @@ class TextEditorComponent
   focused: ->
     if @mounted
       @presenter.setFocused(true)
-      @hiddenInputComponent.getDomNode().focus()
 
   blurred: ->
     if @mounted
diff --git a/src/text-editor-element.coffee b/src/text-editor-element.coffee
index 8f2538ede..8c9792916 100644
--- a/src/text-editor-element.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor-element.coffee
@@ -25,8 +25,17 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
     @emitter = new Emitter
     @subscriptions = new CompositeDisposable
 
+    @hiddenInputElement = document.createElement('input')
+    @hiddenInputElement.classList.add('hidden-input')
+    @hiddenInputElement.setAttribute('tabindex', -1)
+    @hiddenInputElement.setAttribute('data-react-skip-selection-restoration', true)
+    @hiddenInputElement.style['-webkit-transform'] = 'translateZ(0)'
+    @hiddenInputElement.addEventListener 'paste', (event) -> event.preventDefault()
+
     @addEventListener 'focus', @focused.bind(this)
     @addEventListener 'blur', @blurred.bind(this)
+    @hiddenInputElement.addEventListener 'focus', @focused.bind(this)
+    @hiddenInputElement.addEventListener 'blur', @inputNodeBlurred.bind(this)
 
     @classList.add('editor')
     @setAttribute('tabindex', -1)
@@ -117,12 +126,10 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
       themes: @themes
       styles: @styles
       workspace: @workspace
-      assert: @assert
+      assert: @assert,
+      hiddenInputElement: @hiddenInputElement
     )
     @rootElement.appendChild(@component.getDomNode())
-    inputNode = @component.hiddenInputComponent.getDomNode()
-    inputNode.addEventListener 'focus', @focused.bind(this)
-    inputNode.addEventListener 'blur', @inputNodeBlurred.bind(this)
 
   unmountComponent: ->
     if @component?
@@ -132,9 +139,10 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
 
   focused: (event) ->
     @component?.focused()
+    @hiddenInputElement.focus()
 
   blurred: (event) ->
-    if event.relatedTarget is @component?.hiddenInputComponent.getDomNode()
+    if event.relatedTarget is @hiddenInputElement
       event.stopImmediatePropagation()
       return
     @component?.blurred()