diff --git a/src/lib/button/button.spec.ts b/src/lib/button/button.spec.ts
index 901643347a9b..47fd44458bf2 100644
--- a/src/lib/button/button.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/button/button.spec.ts
@@ -127,6 +127,24 @@ describe('MdButton', () => {
       fixture.detectChanges();
       expect(buttonDebugElement.nativeElement.getAttribute('aria-disabled')).toBe('true');
     });
+
+    it('should not add aria-disabled attribute if disabled is false', () => {
+      let fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TestApp);
+      let testComponent = fixture.debugElement.componentInstance;
+      let buttonDebugElement = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('a'));
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      expect(buttonDebugElement.nativeElement.getAttribute('aria-disabled'))
+        .toBe('false', 'Expect aria-disabled="false"');
+      expect(buttonDebugElement.nativeElement.getAttribute('disabled'))
+        .toBeNull('Expect disabled="false"');
+
+      testComponent.isDisabled = false;
+      fixture.detectChanges();
+      expect(buttonDebugElement.nativeElement.getAttribute('aria-disabled'))
+        .toBe('false', 'Expect no aria-disabled');
+      expect(buttonDebugElement.nativeElement.getAttribute('disabled'))
+        .toBeNull('Expect no disabled');
+    });
   });
 
   // Ripple tests.
diff --git a/src/lib/button/button.ts b/src/lib/button/button.ts
index 3ea49d04bf70..421b810b22d6 100644
--- a/src/lib/button/button.ts
+++ b/src/lib/button/button.ts
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@ export class MdButton {
 
   /** Whether the ripple effect on click should be disabled. */
   private _disableRipple: boolean = false;
-  private _disabled: boolean = false;
+  private _disabled: boolean = null;
 
   @Input()
   get disableRipple() { return this._disableRipple; }
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ export class MdButton {
 
   @Input()
   get disabled() { return this._disabled; }
-  set disabled(value: boolean) { this._disabled = coerceBooleanProperty(value); }
+  set disabled(value: boolean) { this._disabled = coerceBooleanProperty(value) ? true : null; }
 
   constructor(private _elementRef: ElementRef, private _renderer: Renderer) { }