diff --git a/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts b/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
index 9d3a59974d..8a256af8f9 100644
--- a/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler-cli/test/ngc_spec.ts
@@ -2283,28 +2283,4 @@ 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 5a3f0c3278..f7b5c59e25 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/aot/compiler.ts
@@ -797,7 +797,6 @@ export interface NgAnalyzedFileWithInjectables {
 export interface NgAnalyzedFile {
   fileName: string;
   directives: StaticSymbol[];
-  abstractDirectives: StaticSymbol[];
   pipes: StaticSymbol[];
   ngModules: CompileNgModuleMetadata[];
   injectables: CompileInjectableMetadata[];
@@ -858,20 +857,18 @@ 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 (!isDeclarationFile || hasDecorators) {
+  if (!fileName.endsWith('.d.ts') || hasDecorators) {
     staticSymbolResolver.getSymbolsOf(fileName).forEach((symbol) => {
       const resolvedSymbol = staticSymbolResolver.resolveSymbol(symbol);
       const symbolMeta = resolvedSymbol.metadata;
@@ -882,23 +879,7 @@ export function analyzeFile(
       if (symbolMeta.__symbolic === 'class') {
         if (metadataResolver.isDirective(symbol)) {
           isNgSymbol = true;
-          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);
-          }
+          directives.push(symbol);
         } else if (metadataResolver.isPipe(symbol)) {
           isNgSymbol = true;
           pipes.push(symbol);
@@ -923,8 +904,7 @@ export function analyzeFile(
     });
   }
   return {
-      fileName,  directives,  abstractDirectives,    pipes,
-      ngModules, injectables, exportsNonSourceFiles,
+      fileName, directives, pipes, ngModules, injectables, exportsNonSourceFiles,
   };
 }
 
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts b/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
index b1c335bc9c..6c2f2d6fff 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/metadata_resolver.ts
@@ -348,7 +348,11 @@ export class CompileMetadataResolver {
     } else {
       // Directive
       if (!selector) {
-        selector = null !;
+        this._reportError(
+            syntaxError(
+                `Directive ${stringifyType(directiveType)} has no selector, please add it!`),
+            directiveType);
+        selector = 'error';
       }
     }
 
@@ -428,19 +432,6 @@ 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);
@@ -616,12 +607,6 @@ 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 e95cbbddcf..aed0867528 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 725ffef85d..6dc6691519 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 {