diff --git a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/provider.ts b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/provider.ts
index 5dcdc8b1b0..9448c4d5af 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/provider.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/provider.ts
@@ -220,7 +220,7 @@ export function resolveDep(
     if (elDef.parent != null) {
       elIndex = elDef.parent;
     } else {
-      elIndex = view.parentDiIndex;
+      elIndex = parentDiIndex(view);
       view = view.parent;
     }
   }
@@ -246,12 +246,26 @@ export function resolveDep(
           return asProviderData(view, providerIndex).instance;
         }
     }
-    elIndex = view.parentDiIndex;
+    elIndex = parentDiIndex(view);
     view = view.parent;
   }
   return Injector.NULL.get(depDef.token, notFoundValue);
 }
 
+/**
+ * for component views, this is the same as parentIndex.
+ * for embedded views, this is the index of the parent node
+ * that contains the view container.
+ */
+function parentDiIndex(view: ViewData): number {
+  if (view.parent) {
+    const parentNodeDef = view.def.nodes[view.parentIndex];
+    return parentNodeDef.element && parentNodeDef.element.template ? parentNodeDef.parent :
+                                                                     parentNodeDef.index;
+  }
+  return view.parentIndex;
+}
+
 export function createInjector(view: ViewData, elIndex: number): Injector {
   return new Injector_(view, elIndex);
 }
diff --git a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/types.ts b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/types.ts
index 008193ead4..d8969de975 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/types.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/types.ts
@@ -259,10 +259,6 @@ export interface ViewData {
   // index of parent element / anchor. Not the index
   // of the provider with the component view.
   parentIndex: number;
-  // for component views, this is the same as parentIndex.
-  // for embedded views, this is the index of the parent node
-  // that contains the view container.
-  parentDiIndex: number;
   parent: ViewData;
   component: any;
   context: any;
diff --git a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/view.ts b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/view.ts
index d1363bec0c..19006d6f2e 100644
--- a/modules/@angular/core/src/view/view.ts
+++ b/modules/@angular/core/src/view/view.ts
@@ -223,8 +223,7 @@ function cloneAndModifyElement(
 export function createEmbeddedView(parent: ViewData, anchorDef: NodeDef, context?: any): ViewData {
   // embedded views are seen as siblings to the anchor, so we need
   // to get the parent of the anchor and use it as parentIndex.
-  const view = createView(
-      parent.services, parent, anchorDef.index, anchorDef.parent, anchorDef.element.template);
+  const view = createView(parent.services, parent, anchorDef.index, anchorDef.element.template);
   initView(view, parent.component, context);
   createViewNodes(view);
   return view;
@@ -236,15 +235,14 @@ export function createEmbeddedView(parent: ViewData, anchorDef: NodeDef, context
  */
 export function createRootView(
     services: Services, defFactory: ViewDefinitionFactory, context?: any): ViewData {
-  const view = createView(services, null, null, null, resolveViewDefinition(defFactory));
+  const view = createView(services, null, null, resolveViewDefinition(defFactory));
   initView(view, context, context);
   createViewNodes(view);
   return view;
 }
 
 function createView(
-    services: Services, parent: ViewData, parentIndex: number, parentDiIndex: number,
-    def: ViewDefinition): ViewData {
+    services: Services, parent: ViewData, parentIndex: number, def: ViewDefinition): ViewData {
   const nodes: NodeData[] = new Array(def.nodes.length);
   let renderer: Renderer;
   if (def.flags != null && (def.flags & ViewFlags.DirectDom)) {
@@ -257,7 +255,6 @@ function createView(
     def,
     parent,
     parentIndex,
-    parentDiIndex,
     context: undefined,
     component: undefined, nodes,
     state: ViewState.FirstCheck, renderer, services,
@@ -303,8 +300,7 @@ function _createViewNodes(view: ViewData) {
         if (nodeDef.provider.component) {
           const hostElIndex = nodeDef.parent;
           componentView = createView(
-              view.services, view, hostElIndex, hostElIndex,
-              resolveViewDefinition(nodeDef.provider.component));
+              view.services, view, hostElIndex, resolveViewDefinition(nodeDef.provider.component));
         }
         const providerData = nodeData = createProvider(view, nodeDef, componentView);
         if (componentView) {