diff --git a/components/selectors/parser.rs b/components/selectors/parser.rs
index 606fd6f479d..7c0f53ab0a6 100644
--- a/components/selectors/parser.rs
+++ b/components/selectors/parser.rs
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ macro_rules! with_all_bounds {
             type NonTSPseudoClass: $($CommonBounds)* + Sized + ToCss + SelectorMethods<Impl = Self>;
 
             /// pseudo-elements
-            type PseudoElement: $($CommonBounds)* + Sized + ToCss;
+            type PseudoElementSelector: $($CommonBounds)* + Sized + ToCss;
         }
     }
 }
@@ -98,8 +98,8 @@ pub trait Parser {
         Err(())
     }
 
-    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, _name: Cow<str>)
-                            -> Result<<Self::Impl as SelectorImpl>::PseudoElement, ()> {
+    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, _name: Cow<str>, _input: &mut CssParser)
+                            -> Result<<Self::Impl as SelectorImpl>::PseudoElementSelector, ()> {
         Err(())
     }
 
@@ -179,7 +179,7 @@ impl<Impl: SelectorImpl> SelectorInner<Impl> {
 #[derive(PartialEq, Eq, Hash, Clone)]
 pub struct Selector<Impl: SelectorImpl> {
     pub inner: SelectorInner<Impl>,
-    pub pseudo_element: Option<Impl::PseudoElement>,
+    pub pseudo_element: Option<Impl::PseudoElementSelector>,
     pub specificity: u32,
 }
 
@@ -816,7 +816,7 @@ impl From<Specificity> for u32 {
 }
 
 fn specificity<Impl>(complex_selector: &ComplexSelector<Impl>,
-                     pseudo_element: Option<&Impl::PseudoElement>)
+                     pseudo_element: Option<&Impl::PseudoElementSelector>)
                      -> u32
                      where Impl: SelectorImpl {
     let mut specificity = complex_selector_specificity(complex_selector);
@@ -916,7 +916,7 @@ type ParseVec<Impl> = SmallVec<[Component<Impl>; 8]>;
 fn parse_complex_selector_and_pseudo_element<P, Impl>(
         parser: &P,
         input: &mut CssParser)
-        -> Result<(ComplexSelector<Impl>, Option<Impl::PseudoElement>), ()>
+        -> Result<(ComplexSelector<Impl>, Option<Impl::PseudoElementSelector>), ()>
     where P: Parser<Impl=Impl>, Impl: SelectorImpl
 {
     let mut sequence = ParseVec::new();
@@ -1014,7 +1014,7 @@ fn parse_type_selector<P, Impl>(parser: &P, input: &mut CssParser, sequence: &mu
 #[derive(Debug)]
 enum SimpleSelectorParseResult<Impl: SelectorImpl> {
     SimpleSelector(Component<Impl>),
-    PseudoElement(Impl::PseudoElement),
+    PseudoElement(Impl::PseudoElementSelector),
 }
 
 /// * `Err(())`: Invalid selector, abort
@@ -1210,7 +1210,7 @@ fn parse_compound_selector<P, Impl>(
     input: &mut CssParser,
     mut sequence: &mut ParseVec<Impl>,
     inside_negation: bool)
-    -> Result<Option<Impl::PseudoElement>, ()>
+    -> Result<Option<Impl::PseudoElementSelector>, ()>
     where P: Parser<Impl=Impl>, Impl: SelectorImpl
 {
     // Consume any leading whitespace.
@@ -1335,7 +1335,7 @@ fn parse_one_simple_selector<P, Impl>(parser: &P,
                        name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("after") ||
                        name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("first-line") ||
                        name.eq_ignore_ascii_case("first-letter") {
-                        let pseudo_element = P::parse_pseudo_element(parser, name)?;
+                        let pseudo_element = P::parse_pseudo_element(parser, name, input)?;
                         Ok(Some(SimpleSelectorParseResult::PseudoElement(pseudo_element)))
                     } else {
                         let pseudo_class = parse_simple_pseudo_class(parser, name)?;
@@ -1351,7 +1351,7 @@ fn parse_one_simple_selector<P, Impl>(parser: &P,
                 Ok(Token::Colon) => {
                     match input.next_including_whitespace() {
                         Ok(Token::Ident(name)) => {
-                            let pseudo = P::parse_pseudo_element(parser, name)?;
+                            let pseudo = P::parse_pseudo_element(parser, name, input)?;
                             Ok(Some(SimpleSelectorParseResult::PseudoElement(pseudo)))
                         }
                         _ => Err(())
@@ -1455,7 +1455,7 @@ pub mod tests {
         type BorrowedLocalName = DummyAtom;
         type BorrowedNamespaceUrl = DummyAtom;
         type NonTSPseudoClass = PseudoClass;
-        type PseudoElement = PseudoElement;
+        type PseudoElementSelector = PseudoElement;
     }
 
     #[derive(Default, Debug, Hash, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
@@ -1505,7 +1505,7 @@ pub mod tests {
             }
         }
 
-        fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, name: Cow<str>)
+        fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, name: Cow<str>, input: &mut CssParser)
                                 -> Result<PseudoElement, ()> {
             match_ignore_ascii_case! { &name,
                 "before" => Ok(PseudoElement::Before),
diff --git a/components/style/gecko/selector_parser.rs b/components/style/gecko/selector_parser.rs
index 6badfd145b6..ca35d1dc35e 100644
--- a/components/style/gecko/selector_parser.rs
+++ b/components/style/gecko/selector_parser.rs
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 //! Gecko-specific bits for selector-parsing.
 
 use cssparser::{Parser, ToCss};
+use element_state::{IN_ACTIVE_STATE, IN_FOCUS_STATE, IN_HOVER_STATE};
 use element_state::ElementState;
 use gecko_bindings::structs::CSSPseudoClassType;
 use gecko_bindings::structs::nsIAtom;
@@ -325,6 +326,15 @@ impl NonTSPseudoClass {
         apply_non_ts_list!(pseudo_class_check_internal)
     }
 
+    /// https://drafts.csswg.org/selectors-4/#useraction-pseudos
+    ///
+    /// We intentionally skip the link-related ones.
+    fn is_safe_user_action_state(&self) -> bool {
+        matches!(*self, NonTSPseudoClass::Hover |
+                        NonTSPseudoClass::Active |
+                        NonTSPseudoClass::Focus)
+    }
+
     /// Get the state flag associated with a pseudo-class, if any.
     pub fn state_flag(&self) -> ElementState {
         macro_rules! flag {
@@ -375,6 +385,53 @@ impl NonTSPseudoClass {
 #[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
 pub struct SelectorImpl;
 
+/// Some subset of pseudo-elements in Gecko are sensitive to some state
+/// selectors.
+///
+/// We store the sensitive states in this struct in order to properly handle
+/// these.
+#[derive(Clone, Debug, PartialEq, Eq, Hash)]
+pub struct PseudoElementSelector {
+    pseudo: PseudoElement,
+    state: ElementState,
+}
+
+impl PseudoElementSelector {
+    /// Returns the pseudo-element this selector represents.
+    pub fn pseudo_element(&self) -> &PseudoElement {
+        &self.pseudo
+    }
+}
+
+impl ToCss for PseudoElementSelector {
+    fn to_css<W>(&self, dest: &mut W) -> fmt::Result
+        where W: fmt::Write,
+    {
+        if cfg!(debug_assertions) {
+            let mut state = self.state;
+            state.remove(IN_HOVER_STATE | IN_ACTIVE_STATE | IN_FOCUS_STATE);
+            assert_eq!(state, ElementState::empty(),
+                       "Unhandled pseudo-element state selector?");
+        }
+
+        self.pseudo.to_css(dest)?;
+
+        if self.state.contains(IN_HOVER_STATE) {
+            dest.write_str(":hover")?
+        }
+
+        if self.state.contains(IN_ACTIVE_STATE) {
+            dest.write_str(":active")?
+        }
+
+        if self.state.contains(IN_FOCUS_STATE) {
+            dest.write_str(":focus")?
+        }
+
+        Ok(())
+    }
+}
+
 impl ::selectors::SelectorImpl for SelectorImpl {
     type AttrValue = Atom;
     type Identifier = Atom;
@@ -385,7 +442,7 @@ impl ::selectors::SelectorImpl for SelectorImpl {
     type BorrowedNamespaceUrl = WeakNamespace;
     type BorrowedLocalName = WeakAtom;
 
-    type PseudoElement = PseudoElement;
+    type PseudoElementSelector = PseudoElementSelector;
     type NonTSPseudoClass = NonTSPseudoClass;
 }
 
@@ -447,11 +504,34 @@ impl<'a> ::selectors::Parser for SelectorParser<'a> {
         }
     }
 
-    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, name: Cow<str>) -> Result<PseudoElement, ()> {
-        match PseudoElement::from_slice(&name, self.in_user_agent_stylesheet()) {
-            Some(pseudo) => Ok(pseudo),
-            None => Err(()),
-        }
+    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, name: Cow<str>, input: &mut Parser) -> Result<PseudoElementSelector, ()> {
+        let pseudo =
+            match PseudoElement::from_slice(&name, self.in_user_agent_stylesheet()) {
+                Some(pseudo) => pseudo,
+                None => return Err(()),
+            };
+
+        let state = input.try(|input| {
+            let mut state = ElementState::empty();
+
+            while !input.is_exhausted() {
+                input.expect_colon()?;
+                let ident = input.expect_ident()?;
+                let pseudo_class = self.parse_non_ts_pseudo_class(ident)?;
+
+                if !pseudo_class.is_safe_user_action_state() {
+                    return Err(())
+                }
+                state.insert(pseudo_class.state_flag());
+            }
+
+            Ok(state)
+        });
+
+        Ok(PseudoElementSelector {
+            pseudo: pseudo,
+            state: state.unwrap_or(ElementState::empty()),
+        })
     }
 
     fn default_namespace(&self) -> Option<Namespace> {
diff --git a/components/style/servo/selector_parser.rs b/components/style/servo/selector_parser.rs
index d81e14235a2..e801738866c 100644
--- a/components/style/servo/selector_parser.rs
+++ b/components/style/servo/selector_parser.rs
@@ -78,6 +78,18 @@ impl ToCss for PseudoElement {
 pub const EAGER_PSEUDO_COUNT: usize = 3;
 
 impl PseudoElement {
+    /// The pseudo-element, used for compatibility with Gecko's
+    /// `PseudoElementSelector`.
+    pub fn pseudo_element(&self) -> &Self {
+        self
+    }
+
+    /// The pseudo-element selector's state, used for compatibility with Gecko's
+    /// `PseudoElementSelector`.
+    pub fn state(&self) -> ElementState {
+        ElementState::empty()
+    }
+
     /// Gets the canonical index of this eagerly-cascaded pseudo-element.
     #[inline]
     pub fn eager_index(&self) -> usize {
@@ -252,7 +264,7 @@ impl NonTSPseudoClass {
 pub struct SelectorImpl;
 
 impl ::selectors::SelectorImpl for SelectorImpl {
-    type PseudoElement = PseudoElement;
+    type PseudoElementSelector = PseudoElement;
     type NonTSPseudoClass = NonTSPseudoClass;
 
     type AttrValue = String;
@@ -311,7 +323,10 @@ impl<'a> ::selectors::Parser for SelectorParser<'a> {
         Ok(pseudo_class)
     }
 
-    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self, name: Cow<str>) -> Result<PseudoElement, ()> {
+    fn parse_pseudo_element(&self,
+                            name: Cow<str>,
+                            _input: &mut CssParser)
+                            -> Result<PseudoElement, ()> {
         use self::PseudoElement::*;
         let pseudo_element = match_ignore_ascii_case! { &name,
             "before" => Before,
diff --git a/components/style/stylist.rs b/components/style/stylist.rs
index b929777bd2f..0cfb9e9a04d 100644
--- a/components/style/stylist.rs
+++ b/components/style/stylist.rs
@@ -449,9 +449,9 @@ impl Stylist {
                        rule: &Arc<Locked<StyleRule>>,
                        stylesheet: &Stylesheet)
     {
-        let map = if let Some(ref pseudo) = selector.pseudo_element {
+        let map = if let Some(ref pseudo_selector) = selector.pseudo_element {
             self.pseudos_map
-                .entry(pseudo.clone())
+                .entry(pseudo_selector.pseudo_element().clone())
                 .or_insert_with(PerPseudoElementSelectorMap::new)
                 .borrow_for_origin(&stylesheet.origin)
         } else {