diff --git a/dom/media/DecoderTraits.cpp b/dom/media/DecoderTraits.cpp
index 19596572a0..d4968c0b4e 100644
--- a/dom/media/DecoderTraits.cpp
+++ b/dom/media/DecoderTraits.cpp
@@ -278,9 +278,20 @@ DecoderTraits::CanHandleContentType(const MediaContentType& aContentType,
 bool DecoderTraits::ShouldHandleMediaType(const char* aMIMEType,
                                           DecoderDoctorDiagnostics* aDiagnostics)
 {
+  // Prior to Issue #1977, we always pop-up the download prompt when
+  // wave files are opened directly. This was considered inconsistent
+  // since we play wave files when they're inside an HTML5 audio tag
+  // anyway. However, there may be users who depended on this old
+  // behavior, where they use their helper apps to open WAV audio
+  // instead. We should allow this old behavior behind a pref for
+  // those who want it.
+  if (!Preferences::GetBool("media.wave.play-stand-alone", true)) {
+    return false;
+  }
+
   // If an external plugin which can handle quicktime video is available
-  // (and not disabled), prefer it over native playback as there several
-  // codecs found in the wild that we do not handle.
+  // (and not disabled), prefer it over native playback as there are
+  // several codecs found in the wild that we do not handle.
   if (nsDependentCString(aMIMEType).EqualsASCII("video/quicktime")) {
     RefPtr<nsPluginHost> pluginHost = nsPluginHost::GetInst();
     if (pluginHost &&
diff --git a/modules/libpref/init/all.js b/modules/libpref/init/all.js
index e0709a477e..c3a995814f 100644
--- a/modules/libpref/init/all.js
+++ b/modules/libpref/init/all.js
@@ -373,6 +373,10 @@ pref("media.wakelock_timeout", 2000);
 // opened as top-level documents, as opposed to inside a media element.
 pref("media.play-stand-alone", true);
 
+// Whether we should play wave files opened in a "media document", i.e. wave
+// audio opened as top-level documents, as opposed to inside a media element.
+pref("media.wave.play-stand-alone", false);
+
 pref("media.hardware-video-decoding.enabled", true);
 pref("media.hardware-video-decoding.force-enabled", false);