diff --git a/src/cdk/drag-drop/directives/drag.spec.ts b/src/cdk/drag-drop/directives/drag.spec.ts
index 885120435701..1cc8700f9837 100644
--- a/src/cdk/drag-drop/directives/drag.spec.ts
+++ b/src/cdk/drag-drop/directives/drag.spec.ts
@@ -602,7 +602,7 @@ describe('CdkDrag', () => {
       const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
       const styles = dragElement.style;
 
-      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBe('none');
+      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBeFalsy();
 
       fixture.componentInstance.dragInstance.disabled = true;
       fixture.detectChanges();
@@ -610,6 +610,30 @@ describe('CdkDrag', () => {
       expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBeFalsy();
     }));
 
+    it('should enable native drag interactions if not dragging', fakeAsync(() => {
+      const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
+      const styles = dragElement.style;
+
+      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBeFalsy();
+    }));
+
+    it('should disable native drag interactions if dragging', fakeAsync(() => {
+      const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
+      const styles = dragElement.style;
+
+      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBeFalsy();
+
+      startDraggingViaMouse(fixture, dragElement);
+      dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+
+      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBe('none');
+    }));
+
     it('should stop propagation for the drag sequence start event', fakeAsync(() => {
       const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
       fixture.detectChanges();
@@ -762,7 +786,7 @@ describe('CdkDrag', () => {
       }).toThrowError(/^cdkDrag must be attached to an element node/);
     }));
 
-    it('should allow for the dragging sequence to be delayed', fakeAsync(() => {
+    it('should cancel drag if the mouse moves before the delay is elapsed', fakeAsync(() => {
       // We can't use Jasmine's `clock` because Zone.js interferes with it.
       spyOn(Date, 'now').and.callFake(() => currentTime);
       let currentTime = 0;
@@ -777,13 +801,52 @@ describe('CdkDrag', () => {
       startDraggingViaMouse(fixture, dragElement);
       currentTime += 750;
       dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
+      currentTime += 500;
       fixture.detectChanges();
 
       expect(dragElement.style.transform)
-          .toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved if the drag timeout has not passed.');
+          .toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved if the mouse moved before the delay.');
+    }));
 
-      // The first `mousemove` here starts the sequence and the second one moves the element.
+    it('should enable native drag interactions if mouse moves before the delay', fakeAsync(() => {
+      // We can't use Jasmine's `clock` because Zone.js interferes with it.
+      spyOn(Date, 'now').and.callFake(() => currentTime);
+      let currentTime = 0;
+
+      const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
+      fixture.componentInstance.dragStartDelay = 1000;
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
+      const styles = dragElement.style;
+
+      expect(dragElement.style.transform).toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved by default.');
+
+      startDraggingViaMouse(fixture, dragElement);
+      currentTime += 750;
+      dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
       currentTime += 500;
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+
+      expect(styles.touchAction || (styles as any).webkitUserDrag).toBeFalsy();
+    }));
+
+    it('should allow dragging after the drag start delay is elapsed', fakeAsync(() => {
+      // We can't use Jasmine's `clock` because Zone.js interferes with it.
+      spyOn(Date, 'now').and.callFake(() => currentTime);
+      let currentTime = 0;
+
+      const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
+      fixture.componentInstance.dragStartDelay = 500;
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
+
+      expect(dragElement.style.transform).toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved by default.');
+
+      dispatchMouseEvent(dragElement, 'mousedown');
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      currentTime += 750;
+
+      // The first `mousemove` here starts the sequence and the second one moves the element.
       dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
       dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
       fixture.detectChanges();
@@ -798,22 +861,17 @@ describe('CdkDrag', () => {
       let currentTime = 0;
 
       const fixture = createComponent(StandaloneDraggable);
-      fixture.componentInstance.dragStartDelay = '1000';
+      fixture.componentInstance.dragStartDelay = '500';
       fixture.detectChanges();
       const dragElement = fixture.componentInstance.dragElement.nativeElement;
 
       expect(dragElement.style.transform).toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved by default.');
 
-      startDraggingViaMouse(fixture, dragElement);
-      currentTime += 750;
-      dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
+      dispatchMouseEvent(dragElement, 'mousedown');
       fixture.detectChanges();
-
-      expect(dragElement.style.transform)
-          .toBeFalsy('Expected element not to be moved if the drag timeout has not passed.');
+      currentTime += 750;
 
       // The first `mousemove` here starts the sequence and the second one moves the element.
-      currentTime += 500;
       dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
       dispatchMouseEvent(document, 'mousemove', 50, 100);
       fixture.detectChanges();
diff --git a/src/cdk/drag-drop/drag-ref.ts b/src/cdk/drag-drop/drag-ref.ts
index 34dc1c1c4fb3..85973d858a73 100644
--- a/src/cdk/drag-drop/drag-ref.ts
+++ b/src/cdk/drag-drop/drag-ref.ts
@@ -509,7 +509,13 @@ export class DragRef<T = any> {
       // direction. Note that this is preferrable over doing something like `skip(minimumDistance)`
       // in the `pointerMove` subscription, because we're not guaranteed to have one move event
       // per pixel of movement (e.g. if the user moves their pointer quickly).
-      if (isOverThreshold && (Date.now() >= this._dragStartTime + (this.dragStartDelay || 0))) {
+      if (isOverThreshold) {
+        const isDelayElapsed = Date.now() >= this._dragStartTime + (this.dragStartDelay || 0);
+        if (!isDelayElapsed) {
+          this._endDragSequence(event);
+          return;
+        }
+
         // Prevent other drag sequences from starting while something in the container is still
         // being dragged. This can happen while we're waiting for the drop animation to finish
         // and can cause errors, because some elements might still be moving around.
@@ -572,6 +578,14 @@ export class DragRef<T = any> {
 
   /** Handler that is invoked when the user lifts their pointer up, after initiating a drag. */
   private _pointerUp = (event: MouseEvent | TouchEvent) => {
+    this._endDragSequence(event);
+  }
+
+  /**
+   * Clears subscriptions and stops the dragging sequence.
+   * @param event Browser event object that ended the sequence.
+   */
+  private _endDragSequence(event: MouseEvent | TouchEvent) {
     // Note that here we use `isDragging` from the service, rather than from `this`.
     // The difference is that the one from the service reflects whether a dragging sequence
     // has been initiated, whereas the one on `this` includes whether the user has passed
@@ -624,6 +638,8 @@ export class DragRef<T = any> {
       this._lastTouchEventTime = Date.now();
     }
 
+    this._toggleNativeDragInteractions();
+
     if (this._dropContainer) {
       const element = this._rootElement;
 
@@ -686,7 +702,6 @@ export class DragRef<T = any> {
       rootElement.style.webkitTapHighlightColor = 'transparent';
     }
 
-    this._toggleNativeDragInteractions();
     this._hasStartedDragging = this._hasMoved = false;
     this._initialContainer = this._dropContainer!;
 
@@ -999,7 +1014,7 @@ export class DragRef<T = any> {
       return;
     }
 
-    const shouldEnable = this.disabled || this._handles.length > 0;
+    const shouldEnable = this._handles.length > 0 || !this.isDragging();
 
     if (shouldEnable !== this._nativeInteractionsEnabled) {
       this._nativeInteractionsEnabled = shouldEnable;
diff --git a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo-module.ts b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo-module.ts
index 461ddd6100f3..b166503dae9b 100644
--- a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo-module.ts
+++ b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo-module.ts
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@ import {NgModule} from '@angular/core';
 import {FormsModule} from '@angular/forms';
 import {MatFormFieldModule} from '@angular/material/form-field';
 import {MatIconModule} from '@angular/material/icon';
+import {MatInputModule} from '@angular/material/input';
 import {MatSelectModule} from '@angular/material/select';
 import {RouterModule} from '@angular/router';
 import {DragAndDropDemo} from './drag-drop-demo';
@@ -23,6 +24,7 @@ import {DragAndDropDemo} from './drag-drop-demo';
     FormsModule,
     MatFormFieldModule,
     MatIconModule,
+    MatInputModule,
     MatSelectModule,
     RouterModule.forChild([{path: '', component: DragAndDropDemo}]),
   ],
diff --git a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.html b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.html
index af30924db583..2e7ca73813bd 100644
--- a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.html
+++ b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.html
@@ -48,7 +48,7 @@ <h2>Horizontal list</h2>
 
 <div class="demo-list">
   <h2>Free dragging</h2>
-  <div cdkDrag class="demo-free-draggable" [cdkDragLockAxis]="axisLock">Drag me around</div>
+  <div cdkDrag class="demo-free-draggable" [cdkDragLockAxis]="axisLock" [cdkDragStartDelay]="dragStartDelay">Drag me around</div>
 </div>
 
 <div>
@@ -69,3 +69,11 @@ <h2>Axis locking</h2>
     </mat-select>
   </mat-form-field>
 </div>
+
+<div>
+  <h2>Drag start delay</h2>
+
+  <mat-form-field>
+    <input matInput placeholder="Drag start delay" value="0" [(ngModel)]="dragStartDelay">
+  </mat-form-field>
+</div>
diff --git a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.ts b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.ts
index 40ddc027ac6d..eb80610c3bcf 100644
--- a/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.ts
+++ b/src/dev-app/drag-drop/drag-drop-demo.ts
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@ import {CdkDragDrop, moveItemInArray, transferArrayItem} from '@angular/cdk/drag
 })
 export class DragAndDropDemo {
   axisLock: 'x' | 'y';
+  dragStartDelay = 0;
   todo = [
     'Go out for Lunch',
     'Make a cool app',