diff --git a/modules/@angular/http/src/backends/xhr_backend.ts b/modules/@angular/http/src/backends/xhr_backend.ts
index 1af95532092e..db6a87e4db3c 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/http/src/backends/xhr_backend.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/http/src/backends/xhr_backend.ts
@@ -6,19 +6,21 @@ import {Headers} from '../headers';
 import {ResponseOptions} from '../base_response_options';
 import {Injectable} from '@angular/core';
 import {BrowserXhr} from './browser_xhr';
-import {isPresent} from '../../src/facade/lang';
+import {isPresent, isString} from '../../src/facade/lang';
 import {Observable} from 'rxjs/Observable';
 import {Observer} from 'rxjs/Observer';
 import {isSuccess, getResponseURL} from '../http_utils';
 
+const XSSI_PREFIX = ')]}\',\n';
+
 /**
-* Creates connections using `XMLHttpRequest`. Given a fully-qualified
-* request, an `XHRConnection` will immediately create an `XMLHttpRequest` object and send the
-* request.
-*
-* This class would typically not be created or interacted with directly inside applications, though
-* the {@link MockConnection} may be interacted with in tests.
-*/
+ * Creates connections using `XMLHttpRequest`. Given a fully-qualified
+ * request, an `XHRConnection` will immediately create an `XMLHttpRequest` object and send the
+ * request.
+ *
+ * This class would typically not be created or interacted with directly inside applications, though
+ * the {@link MockConnection} may be interacted with in tests.
+ */
 export class XHRConnection implements Connection {
   request: Request;
   /**
@@ -32,13 +34,17 @@ export class XHRConnection implements Connection {
     this.response = new Observable<Response>((responseObserver: Observer<Response>) => {
       let _xhr: XMLHttpRequest = browserXHR.build();
       _xhr.open(RequestMethod[req.method].toUpperCase(), req.url);
+
       // load event handler
       let onLoad = () => {
         // responseText is the old-school way of retrieving response (supported by IE8 & 9)
         // response/responseType properties were introduced in XHR Level2 spec (supported by
         // IE10)
         let body = isPresent(_xhr.response) ? _xhr.response : _xhr.responseText;
-
+        // Implicitly strip a potential XSSI prefix.
+        if (isString(body) && body.startsWith(XSSI_PREFIX)) {
+          body = body.substring(XSSI_PREFIX.length);
+        }
         let headers = Headers.fromResponseHeaderString(_xhr.getAllResponseHeaders());
 
         let url = getResponseURL(_xhr);
diff --git a/modules/@angular/http/test/backends/xhr_backend_spec.ts b/modules/@angular/http/test/backends/xhr_backend_spec.ts
index b93fe60fbde8..bbc5b5ced9fe 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/http/test/backends/xhr_backend_spec.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/http/test/backends/xhr_backend_spec.ts
@@ -273,6 +273,29 @@ export function main() {
            existingXHRs[0].dispatchEvent('load');
          }));
 
+      it('should strip XSSI prefixes', inject([AsyncTestCompleter], (async: AsyncTestCompleter) => {
+           var conn = new XHRConnection(sampleRequest, new MockBrowserXHR(), new ResponseOptions());
+           conn.response.subscribe((res: Response) => {
+             expect(res.text()).toBe('{json: "object"}');
+             async.done();
+           });
+           existingXHRs[0].setStatusCode(200);
+           existingXHRs[0].setResponseText(')]}\',\n{json: "object"}');
+           existingXHRs[0].dispatchEvent('load');
+         }));
+
+      it('should strip XSSI prefix from errors', inject([AsyncTestCompleter], (async: AsyncTestCompleter) => {
+           var conn =
+               new XHRConnection(sampleRequest, new MockBrowserXHR(), new ResponseOptions());
+           conn.response.subscribe(null, (res: Response) => {
+             expect(res.text()).toBe('{json: "object"}');
+             async.done();
+           });
+           existingXHRs[0].setStatusCode(404);
+           existingXHRs[0].setResponseText(')]}\',\n{json: "object"}');
+           existingXHRs[0].dispatchEvent('load');
+         }));
+
       it('should parse response headers and add them to the response',
          inject([AsyncTestCompleter], (async: AsyncTestCompleter) => {
            var statusCode = 200;