diff --git a/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.spec.ts b/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.spec.ts
index fd694f6930..bd3ffd71f1 100644
--- a/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.spec.ts
+++ b/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.spec.ts
@@ -80,6 +80,26 @@ describe('ScrollService', () => {
        expect(updateScrollPositionInHistorySpy).toHaveBeenCalledTimes(1);
      }));
 
+  it('should not support `manual` scrollRestoration when it is not writable', () => {
+    const original = Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(window.history, 'scrollRestoration');
+    try {
+      Object.defineProperty(window.history, 'scrollRestoration', {
+        value: 'auto',
+        configurable: true,
+      });
+      scrollService = createScrollService(
+          document, platformLocation as PlatformLocation, viewportScrollerStub, location);
+
+      expect(scrollService.supportManualScrollRestoration).toBe(false);
+    } finally {
+      if (original !== undefined) {
+        Object.defineProperty(window.history, 'scrollRestoration', original);
+      } else {
+        delete window.history.scrollRestoration;
+      }
+    }
+  });
+
   it('should set `scrollRestoration` to `manual` if supported', () => {
     if (scrollService.supportManualScrollRestoration) {
       expect(window.history.scrollRestoration).toBe('manual');
diff --git a/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.ts b/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.ts
index 3664bbc130..ab5f299b66 100644
--- a/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.ts
+++ b/aio/src/app/shared/scroll.service.ts
@@ -24,8 +24,7 @@ export class ScrollService implements OnDestroy {
   poppedStateScrollPosition: ScrollPosition|null = null;
   // Whether the browser supports the necessary features for manual scroll restoration.
   supportManualScrollRestoration: boolean = !!window && ('scrollTo' in window) &&
-      ('scrollX' in window) && ('scrollY' in window) && !!history &&
-      ('scrollRestoration' in history);
+      ('scrollX' in window) && ('scrollY' in window) && isScrollRestorationWritable();
 
   // Offset from the top of the document to bottom of any static elements
   // at the top (e.g. toolbar) + some margin
@@ -243,3 +242,20 @@ export class ScrollService implements OnDestroy {
     return decodeURIComponent(this.platformLocation.hash.replace(/^#/, ''));
   }
 }
+
+/**
+ * We need to check whether we can write to `history.scrollRestoration`
+ *
+ * We do this by checking the property descriptor of the property, but
+ * it might actually be defined on the `history` prototype not the instance.
+ *
+ * In this context "writable" means either than the property is a `writable`
+ * data file or a property that has a setter.
+ */
+function isScrollRestorationWritable() {
+  const scrollRestorationDescriptor =
+      Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(history, 'scrollRestoration') ||
+      Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(Object.getPrototypeOf(history), 'scrollRestoration');
+  return scrollRestorationDescriptor !== undefined &&
+      !!(scrollRestorationDescriptor.writable || scrollRestorationDescriptor.set);
+}
diff --git a/goldens/size-tracking/aio-payloads.json b/goldens/size-tracking/aio-payloads.json
index b91c2891d6..8ebdb7da24 100755
--- a/goldens/size-tracking/aio-payloads.json
+++ b/goldens/size-tracking/aio-payloads.json
@@ -21,9 +21,9 @@
     "master": {
       "uncompressed": {
         "runtime-es2015": 3097,
-        "main-es2015": 429885,
+        "main-es2015": 430239,
         "polyfills-es2015": 52195
       }
     }
   }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/packages/common/src/viewport_scroller.ts b/packages/common/src/viewport_scroller.ts
index c2def3b91b..cea5ca5d30 100644
--- a/packages/common/src/viewport_scroller.ts
+++ b/packages/common/src/viewport_scroller.ts
@@ -165,13 +165,25 @@ export class BrowserViewportScroller implements ViewportScroller {
    */
   private supportScrollRestoration(): boolean {
     try {
-      return !!this.window && !!this.window.scrollTo;
+      if (!this.window || !this.window.scrollTo) {
+        return false;
+      }
+      // The `scrollRestoration` property could be on the `history` instance or its prototype.
+      const scrollRestorationDescriptor = getScrollRestorationProperty(this.window.history) ||
+          getScrollRestorationProperty(Object.getPrototypeOf(this.window.history));
+      // We can write to the `scrollRestoration` property if it is a writable data field or it has a
+      // setter function.
+      return !!scrollRestorationDescriptor &&
+          !!(scrollRestorationDescriptor.writable || scrollRestorationDescriptor.set);
     } catch {
       return false;
     }
   }
 }
 
+function getScrollRestorationProperty(obj: any): PropertyDescriptor|undefined {
+  return Object.getOwnPropertyDescriptor(obj, 'scrollRestoration');
+}
 
 /**
  * Provides an empty implementation of the viewport scroller. This will
diff --git a/packages/common/test/viewport_scroller_spec.ts b/packages/common/test/viewport_scroller_spec.ts
index f3b6c907a8..2ac9328fc1 100644
--- a/packages/common/test/viewport_scroller_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/common/test/viewport_scroller_spec.ts
@@ -23,10 +23,25 @@ import {BrowserViewportScroller, ViewportScroller} from '../src/viewport_scrolle
   describe('BrowserViewportScroller', () => {
     let scroller: ViewportScroller;
     let documentSpy: any;
+    let windowSpy: any;
+
     beforeEach(() => {
+      windowSpy = jasmine.createSpyObj('window', ['history']);
+      windowSpy.scrollTo = 1;
+      windowSpy.history.scrollRestoration = 'auto';
+
       documentSpy = jasmine.createSpyObj('document', ['querySelector']);
-      scroller = new BrowserViewportScroller(documentSpy, {scrollTo: 1}, null!);
+      scroller = new BrowserViewportScroller(documentSpy, windowSpy, null!);
     });
+
+    it('should not crash when scrollRestoration is not writable', () => {
+      Object.defineProperty(windowSpy.history, 'scrollRestoration', {
+        value: 'auto',
+        configurable: true,
+      });
+      expect(() => scroller.setHistoryScrollRestoration('manual')).not.toThrow();
+    });
+
     it('escapes invalid characters selectors', () => {
       const invalidSelectorChars = `"' :.[],=`;
       // Double escaped to make sure we match the actual value passed to `querySelector`