diff --git a/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee b/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1c1a47731
--- /dev/null
+++ b/spec/text-editor-element-spec.coffee
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+TextEditorElement = require '../src/text-editor-element'
+
+# The rest of text-editor-component-spec will be moved to this file when React
+# is eliminated. This covers only concerns related to the wrapper element for now
+describe "TextEditorElement", ->
+  jasmineContent = null
+
+  beforeEach ->
+    jasmineContent = document.body.querySelector('#jasmine-content')
+
+  describe "instantiation", ->
+    it "honors the mini attribute", ->
+      jasmineContent.innerHTML = "<div is='atom-text-editor' mini>"
+      element = jasmineContent.firstChild
+      expect(element.getModel().isMini()).toBe true
+
+    it "honors the placeholder-text attribute", ->
+      jasmineContent.innerHTML = "<div is='atom-text-editor' placeholder-text='testing'>"
+      element = jasmineContent.firstChild
+      expect(element.getModel().getPlaceholderText()).toBe 'testing'
+
+  describe "::focus()", ->
+    it "transfers focus to the hidden text area and does not emit 'focusout' or 'blur' events", ->
+      element = new TextEditorElement
+      jasmineContent.appendChild(element)
+
+      focusoutCalled = false
+      element.addEventListener 'focusout', -> focusoutCalled = true
+      blurCalled = false
+      element.addEventListener 'blur', -> blurCalled = true
+
+      element.focus()
+      expect(focusoutCalled).toBe false
+      expect(blurCalled).toBe false
+      expect(element.hasFocus()).toBe true
+      expect(element.querySelector('input')).toBe document.activeElement
diff --git a/src/text-editor-element.coffee b/src/text-editor-element.coffee
index 9c1fc71c5..98763c6d5 100644
--- a/src/text-editor-element.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor-element.coffee
@@ -18,6 +18,8 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
     @initializeContent()
     @createSpacePenShim()
     @addEventListener 'focus', @focused.bind(this)
+    @addEventListener 'focusout', @focusedOut.bind(this)
+    @addEventListener 'blur', @blurred.bind(this)
 
   initializeContent: (attributes) ->
     @classList.add('editor', 'react', 'editor-colors')
@@ -51,8 +53,8 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
       softWrapped: false
       tabLength: 2
       softTabs: true
-      mini: @getAttribute('mini')
-      placeholderText: placeholderText
+      mini: @hasAttribute('mini')
+      placeholderText: @getAttribute('placeholder-text')
     ))
 
   mountComponent: ->
@@ -75,10 +77,19 @@ class TextEditorElement extends HTMLElement
     else
       @focusOnAttach = true
 
+  focusedOut: (event) ->
+    event.stopImmediatePropagation() if @contains(event.relatedTarget)
+
+  blurred: (event) ->
+    event.stopImmediatePropagation() if @contains(event.relatedTarget)
+
   addGrammarScopeAttribute: ->
     grammarScope = @model.getGrammar()?.scopeName?.replace(/\./g, ' ')
     @setAttribute('data-grammar', grammarScope)
 
+  hasFocus: ->
+    this is document.activeElement or @contains(document.activeElement)
+
 stopCommandEventPropagation = (commandListeners) ->
   newCommandListeners = {}
   for commandName, commandListener of commandListeners
diff --git a/src/text-editor.coffee b/src/text-editor.coffee
index a73207cdd..d1fca0412 100644
--- a/src/text-editor.coffee
+++ b/src/text-editor.coffee
@@ -501,6 +501,8 @@ class TextEditor extends Model
       @mini = mini
       @updateInvisibles()
 
+  isMini: -> @mini
+
   # Set the number of characters that can be displayed horizontally in the
   # editor.
   #