diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
index 8a256af8f9..9d3a59974d 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
@@ -2283,4 +2283,28 @@ describe('ngc transformer command-line', () => {
     let exitCode = main(['-p', path.join(basePath, 'tsconfig.json')], errorSpy);
     expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);
   });
+
+  describe('base directives', () => {
+    it('should allow directives with no selector that are not in NgModules', () => {
+      // first only generate .d.ts / .js / .metadata.json files
+      writeConfig(`{
+          "extends": "./tsconfig-base.json",
+          "files": ["main.ts"]
+        }`);
+      write('main.ts', `
+          import {Directive} from '@angular/core';
+
+          @Directive({})
+          export class BaseDir {}
+
+          @Directive({})
+          export abstract class AbstractBaseDir {}
+
+          @Directive()
+          export abstract class EmptyDir {}
+      `);
+      let exitCode = main(['-p', path.join(basePath, 'tsconfig.json')], errorSpy);
+      expect(exitCode).toEqual(0);
+    });
+  });
 });
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts b/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts
index f7b5c59e25..5a3f0c3278 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts
@@ -797,6 +797,7 @@ export interface NgAnalyzedFileWithInjectables {
 export interface NgAnalyzedFile {
   fileName: string;
   directives: StaticSymbol[];
+  abstractDirectives: StaticSymbol[];
   pipes: StaticSymbol[];
   ngModules: CompileNgModuleMetadata[];
   injectables: CompileInjectableMetadata[];
@@ -857,18 +858,20 @@ function _analyzeFilesIncludingNonProgramFiles(
 export function analyzeFile(
     host: NgAnalyzeModulesHost, staticSymbolResolver: StaticSymbolResolver,
     metadataResolver: CompileMetadataResolver, fileName: string): NgAnalyzedFile {
+  const abstractDirectives: StaticSymbol[] = [];
   const directives: StaticSymbol[] = [];
   const pipes: StaticSymbol[] = [];
   const injectables: CompileInjectableMetadata[] = [];
   const ngModules: CompileNgModuleMetadata[] = [];
   const hasDecorators = staticSymbolResolver.hasDecorators(fileName);
   let exportsNonSourceFiles = false;
+  const isDeclarationFile = fileName.endsWith('.d.ts');
   // Don't analyze .d.ts files that have no decorators as a shortcut
   // to speed up the analysis. This prevents us from
   // resolving the references in these files.
   // Note: exportsNonSourceFiles is only needed when compiling with summaries,
   // which is not the case when .d.ts files are treated as input files.
-  if (!fileName.endsWith('.d.ts') || hasDecorators) {
+  if (!isDeclarationFile || hasDecorators) {
     staticSymbolResolver.getSymbolsOf(fileName).forEach((symbol) => {
       const resolvedSymbol = staticSymbolResolver.resolveSymbol(symbol);
       const symbolMeta = resolvedSymbol.metadata;
@@ -879,7 +882,23 @@ export function analyzeFile(
       if (symbolMeta.__symbolic === 'class') {
         if (metadataResolver.isDirective(symbol)) {
           isNgSymbol = true;
-          directives.push(symbol);
+          if (!isDeclarationFile) {
+            // This directive either has a selector or doesn't. Selector-less directives get tracked
+            // in abstractDirectives, not directives. The compiler doesn't deal with selector-less
+            // directives at all, really, other than to persist their metadata. This is done so that
+            // apps will have an easier time migrating to Ivy, which requires the selector-less
+            // annotations to be applied.
+            if (!metadataResolver.isAbstractDirective(symbol)) {
+              // The directive is an ordinary directive.
+              directives.push(symbol);
+            } else {
+              // The directive has no selector and is an "abstract" directive, so track it
+              // accordingly.
+              abstractDirectives.push(symbol);
+            }
+          } else {
+            directives.push(symbol);
+          }
         } else if (metadataResolver.isPipe(symbol)) {
           isNgSymbol = true;
           pipes.push(symbol);
@@ -904,7 +923,8 @@ export function analyzeFile(
     });
   }
   return {
-      fileName, directives, pipes, ngModules, injectables, exportsNonSourceFiles,
+      fileName,  directives,  abstractDirectives,    pipes,
+      ngModules, injectables, exportsNonSourceFiles,
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts b/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
index 6c2f2d6fff..b1c335bc9c 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
@@ -348,11 +348,7 @@ export class CompileMetadataResolver {
     } else {
       // Directive
       if (!selector) {
-        this._reportError(
-            syntaxError(
-                `Directive ${stringifyType(directiveType)} has no selector, please add it!`),
-            directiveType);
-        selector = 'error';
+        selector = null !;
       }
     }
 
@@ -432,6 +428,19 @@ export class CompileMetadataResolver {
         this._directiveResolver.isDirective(type);
   }
 
+  isAbstractDirective(type: any): boolean {
+    const summary =
+        this._loadSummary(type, cpl.CompileSummaryKind.Directive) as cpl.CompileDirectiveSummary;
+    if (summary) {
+      return !summary.selector;
+    }
+    const meta = this.getNonNormalizedDirectiveMetadata(type);
+    if (!meta) {
+      return false;
+    }
+    return !meta.metadata.selector;
+  }
+
   isPipe(type: any) {
     return !!this._loadSummary(type, cpl.CompileSummaryKind.Pipe) ||
         this._pipeResolver.isPipe(type);
@@ -607,6 +616,12 @@ export class CompileMetadataResolver {
         }
         const declaredIdentifier = this._getIdentifierMetadata(declaredType);
         if (this.isDirective(declaredType)) {
+          if (this.isAbstractDirective(declaredType)) {
+            this._reportError(
+                syntaxError(
+                    `Directive ${stringifyType(declaredType)} has no selector, please add it!`),
+                declaredType);
+          }
           transitiveModule.addDirective(declaredIdentifier);
           declaredDirectives.push(declaredIdentifier);
           this._addTypeToModule(declaredType, moduleType);
diff --git a/packages/core/src/metadata/directives.ts b/packages/core/src/metadata/directives.ts
index c4fe385c00..8f483a0061 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/metadata/directives.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/metadata/directives.ts
@@ -68,12 +68,12 @@ export interface DirectiveDecorator {
    *
    * @Annotation
    */
-  (obj: Directive): TypeDecorator;
+  (obj?: Directive): TypeDecorator;
 
   /**
    * See the `Directive` decorator.
    */
-  new (obj: Directive): Directive;
+  new (obj?: Directive): Directive;
 }
 
 /**
diff --git a/tools/public_api_guard/core/core.d.ts b/tools/public_api_guard/core/core.d.ts
index 6dc6691519..725ffef85d 100644
--- a/tools/public_api_guard/core/core.d.ts
+++ b/tools/public_api_guard/core/core.d.ts
@@ -297,8 +297,8 @@ export interface Directive {
 export declare const Directive: DirectiveDecorator;
 
 export interface DirectiveDecorator {
-    (obj: Directive): TypeDecorator;
-    new (obj: Directive): Directive;
+    (obj?: Directive): TypeDecorator;
+    new (obj?: Directive): Directive;
 }
 
 export interface DoBootstrap {