diff --git a/packages/common/test/directives/ng_component_outlet_spec.ts b/packages/common/test/directives/ng_component_outlet_spec.ts
index 4b59d8b4d1..dcc3193dd0 100644
--- a/packages/common/test/directives/ng_component_outlet_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/common/test/directives/ng_component_outlet_spec.ts
@@ -120,31 +120,29 @@ describe('insert/remove', () => {
        expect(cmpRef.instance.testToken).toBeNull();
      }));
 
-  fixmeIvy('can not pass projectable nodes') &&
-      it('should render projectable nodes, if supplied', async(() => {
-           const template = `<ng-template>projected foo</ng-template>${TEST_CMP_TEMPLATE}`;
-           TestBed.overrideComponent(TestComponent, {set: {template: template}})
-               .configureTestingModule({schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]});
+  it('should render projectable nodes, if supplied', async(() => {
+       const template = `<ng-template>projected foo</ng-template>${TEST_CMP_TEMPLATE}`;
+       TestBed.overrideComponent(TestComponent, {set: {template: template}})
+           .configureTestingModule({schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]});
 
-           TestBed
-               .overrideComponent(InjectedComponent, {set: {template: `<ng-content></ng-content>`}})
-               .configureTestingModule({schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]});
+       TestBed.overrideComponent(InjectedComponent, {set: {template: `<ng-content></ng-content>`}})
+           .configureTestingModule({schemas: [NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA]});
 
-           let fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TestComponent);
+       let fixture = TestBed.createComponent(TestComponent);
 
-           fixture.detectChanges();
-           expect(fixture.nativeElement).toHaveText('');
+       fixture.detectChanges();
+       expect(fixture.nativeElement).toHaveText('');
 
-           fixture.componentInstance.currentComponent = InjectedComponent;
-           fixture.componentInstance.projectables =
-               [fixture.componentInstance.vcRef
-                    .createEmbeddedView(fixture.componentInstance.tplRefs.first)
-                    .rootNodes];
+       fixture.componentInstance.currentComponent = InjectedComponent;
+       fixture.componentInstance.projectables =
+           [fixture.componentInstance.vcRef
+                .createEmbeddedView(fixture.componentInstance.tplRefs.first)
+                .rootNodes];
 
 
-           fixture.detectChanges();
-           expect(fixture.nativeElement).toHaveText('projected foo');
-         }));
+       fixture.detectChanges();
+       expect(fixture.nativeElement).toHaveText('projected foo');
+     }));
 
   fixmeIvy('Runtime compiler is not loaded') &&
       it('should resolve components from other modules, if supplied', async(() => {
diff --git a/packages/core/src/render3/view_ref.ts b/packages/core/src/render3/view_ref.ts
index e47b32fbcf..ec1066dab0 100644
--- a/packages/core/src/render3/view_ref.ts
+++ b/packages/core/src/render3/view_ref.ts
@@ -12,10 +12,12 @@ import {ViewContainerRef as viewEngine_ViewContainerRef} from '../linker/view_co
 import {EmbeddedViewRef as viewEngine_EmbeddedViewRef, InternalViewRef as viewEngine_InternalViewRef} from '../linker/view_ref';
 
 import {checkNoChanges, checkNoChangesInRootView, detectChanges, detectChangesInRootView, markViewDirty, storeCleanupFn, viewAttached} from './instructions';
-import {TViewNode} from './interfaces/node';
-import {FLAGS, LViewData, LViewFlags, PARENT} from './interfaces/view';
+import {TNode, TNodeType, TViewNode} from './interfaces/node';
+import {FLAGS, HOST, HOST_NODE, LViewData, LViewFlags, PARENT} from './interfaces/view';
 import {destroyLView} from './node_manipulation';
 import {getRendererFactory} from './state';
+import {getNativeByTNode} from './util';
+
 
 
 // Needed due to tsickle downleveling where multiple `implements` with classes creates
@@ -38,8 +40,13 @@ export class ViewRef<T> implements viewEngine_EmbeddedViewRef<T>, viewEngine_Int
    */
   _tViewNode: TViewNode|null = null;
 
-  // TODO(issue/24571): remove '!'.
-  rootNodes !: any[];
+  get rootNodes(): any[] {
+    if (this._view[HOST] == null) {
+      const tView = this._view[HOST_NODE] as TViewNode;
+      return collectNativeNodes(this._view, tView, []);
+    }
+    return [];
+  }
 
   constructor(_view: LViewData, private _context: T|null, private _componentIndex: number) {
     this._view = _view;
@@ -269,3 +276,17 @@ export class RootViewRef<T> extends ViewRef<T> {
 
   checkNoChanges(): void { checkNoChangesInRootView(this._view); }
 }
+
+function collectNativeNodes(lView: LViewData, parentTNode: TNode, result: any[]): any[] {
+  let tNodeChild = parentTNode.child;
+
+  while (tNodeChild) {
+    result.push(getNativeByTNode(tNodeChild, lView));
+    if (tNodeChild.type === TNodeType.ElementContainer) {
+      collectNativeNodes(lView, tNodeChild, result);
+    }
+    tNodeChild = tNodeChild.next;
+  }
+
+  return result;
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/animation_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/animation_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index ac48a8cfd4..01ee1e9f0a 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/animation_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/animation_world/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -371,6 +371,9 @@
   {
     "name": "cleanUpView"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "collectNativeNodes"
+  },
   {
     "name": "componentRefresh"
   },
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 79e0992226..d5bba26b9a 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/hello_world_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -611,6 +611,9 @@
   {
     "name": "cleanUpView"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "collectNativeNodes"
+  },
   {
     "name": "compileNgModuleFactory"
   },
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 8d17e05d2b..8857a5ca90 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -428,6 +428,9 @@
   {
     "name": "cleanUpView"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "collectNativeNodes"
+  },
   {
     "name": "componentRefresh"
   },
diff --git a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
index 26914e538d..e5630d71fc 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/bundling/todo_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
+++ b/packages/core/test/bundling/todo_r2/bundle.golden_symbols.json
@@ -1280,6 +1280,9 @@
   {
     "name": "cleanUpView"
   },
+  {
+    "name": "collectNativeNodes"
+  },
   {
     "name": "compileNgModuleFactory"
   },
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/common_integration_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/common_integration_spec.ts
index 55a5c5495e..177cb16fd4 100644
--- a/packages/core/test/render3/common_integration_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/common_integration_spec.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@
  */
 
 import {NgForOfContext} from '@angular/common';
-import {ElementRef, TemplateRef} from '@angular/core';
 
 import {AttributeMarker, defineComponent, templateRefExtractor} from '../../src/render3/index';
 import {bind, template, elementEnd, elementProperty, elementStart, interpolation1, interpolation2, interpolation3, interpolationV, listener, load, nextContext, text, textBinding, elementContainerStart, elementContainerEnd, reference} from '../../src/render3/instructions';
diff --git a/packages/core/test/render3/template_ref_spec.ts b/packages/core/test/render3/template_ref_spec.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a2fe6883ae
--- /dev/null
+++ b/packages/core/test/render3/template_ref_spec.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,178 @@
+/**
+ * @license
+ * Copyright Google Inc. All Rights Reserved.
+ *
+ * Use of this source code is governed by an MIT-style license that can be
+ * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
+ */
+
+import {TemplateRef} from '@angular/core';
+
+import {ComponentFixture, createComponent, getDirectiveOnNode} from './render_util';
+import {bind, directiveInject, element, elementContainerStart, elementContainerEnd, elementProperty, template, text} from '../../src/render3/instructions';
+import {RenderFlags, defineDirective, AttributeMarker} from '../../src/render3/index';
+
+import {NgIf} from './common_with_def';
+
+describe('TemplateRef', () => {
+
+  describe('rootNodes', () => {
+
+    class DirectiveWithTplRef {
+      static ngDirectiveDef = defineDirective({
+        type: DirectiveWithTplRef,
+        selectors: [['', 'tplRef', '']],
+        factory: () => new DirectiveWithTplRef(directiveInject(TemplateRef as any))
+      });
+
+      // injecting a ViewContainerRef to create a dynamic container in which embedded views will be
+      // created
+      constructor(public tplRef: TemplateRef<{}>) {}
+    }
+
+    it('should return root render nodes for an embedded view instance', () => {
+      let directiveWithTplRef: DirectiveWithTplRef;
+
+      function embeddedTemplate(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          element(0, 'div');
+          text(1, 'some text');
+          element(2, 'span');
+        }
+      }
+
+      /*
+          <ng-template tplRef>
+              <div></div>
+              some text
+              <span></span>
+          </ng-template>
+       */
+      const AppComponent = createComponent('app-cmp', function(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          template(0, embeddedTemplate, 3, 0, null, ['tplRef', '']);
+          directiveWithTplRef = getDirectiveOnNode(0, 0);
+        }
+      }, 1, 0, [DirectiveWithTplRef]);
+
+
+      const fixture = new ComponentFixture(AppComponent);
+      expect(directiveWithTplRef !).toBeDefined();
+
+      const viewRef = directiveWithTplRef !.tplRef.createEmbeddedView({});
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes.length).toBe(3);
+    });
+
+    /**
+     * This is different as compared to the view engine implementation which returns a comment node
+     * in this case:
+     * https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-uiqry6?file=src/app/app.component.ts
+     *
+     * Returning a comment node for a template ref with no nodes is wrong and should be fixed in
+     * ivy.
+     */
+    it('should return an empty array for embedded view with no nodes', () => {
+      let directiveWithTplRef: DirectiveWithTplRef;
+
+      /*
+          <ng-template tplRef></ng-template>
+       */
+      const AppComponent = createComponent('app-cmp', function(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          template(0, () => {}, 0, 0, null, ['tplRef', '']);
+          directiveWithTplRef = getDirectiveOnNode(0, 0);
+        }
+      }, 1, 0, [DirectiveWithTplRef]);
+
+
+      const fixture = new ComponentFixture(AppComponent);
+      expect(directiveWithTplRef !).toBeDefined();
+
+      const viewRef = directiveWithTplRef !.tplRef.createEmbeddedView({});
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes.length).toBe(0);
+    });
+
+    /**
+     * This is somehow surprising but the current view engine don't descend into containers when
+     * getting root nodes of an embedded view:
+     * https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-z8zev7?file=src/app/app.component.ts
+     */
+    it('should not descend into containers when retrieving root nodes', () => {
+      let directiveWithTplRef: DirectiveWithTplRef;
+
+      function ngIfTemplate(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          text(0, 'text');
+        }
+      }
+
+      function embeddedTemplate(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          template(0, ngIfTemplate, 1, 0, null, [AttributeMarker.SelectOnly, 'ngIf']);
+        }
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Update) {
+          elementProperty(0, 'ngIf', bind(ctx.showing));
+        }
+      }
+
+      /*
+          <ng-template tplRef><ng-template [ngIf]="true">text</ng-template></ng-template>
+       */
+      const AppComponent = createComponent('app-cmp', function(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          template(0, embeddedTemplate, 1, 1, null, ['tplRef', '']);
+          directiveWithTplRef = getDirectiveOnNode(0, 0);
+        }
+      }, 1, 0, [DirectiveWithTplRef, NgIf]);
+
+
+      const fixture = new ComponentFixture(AppComponent);
+      expect(directiveWithTplRef !).toBeDefined();
+
+      const viewRef = directiveWithTplRef !.tplRef.createEmbeddedView({});
+
+      // assert that we've got a comment node (only!) corresponding to <ng-template [ngIf]="true">
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes.length).toBe(1);
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes[0].nodeType).toBe(8);
+    });
+
+
+    /**
+     * Contrary to containers (<ng-template>) we _do_ descend into element containers
+     * (<ng-container):
+     * https://stackblitz.com/edit/angular-yovmmp?file=src/app/app.component.ts
+     */
+    it('should descend into element containers when retrieving root nodes', () => {
+      let directiveWithTplRef: DirectiveWithTplRef;
+
+      function embeddedTemplate(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          elementContainerStart(0);
+          { text(1, 'text'); }
+          elementContainerEnd();
+        }
+      }
+
+      /*
+          <ng-template tplRef><ng-container>text</ng-container></ng-template>
+       */
+      const AppComponent = createComponent('app-cmp', function(rf: RenderFlags, ctx: any) {
+        if (rf & RenderFlags.Create) {
+          template(0, embeddedTemplate, 2, 0, null, ['tplRef', '']);
+          directiveWithTplRef = getDirectiveOnNode(0, 0);
+        }
+      }, 1, 0, [DirectiveWithTplRef]);
+
+
+      const fixture = new ComponentFixture(AppComponent);
+      expect(directiveWithTplRef !).toBeDefined();
+
+      const viewRef = directiveWithTplRef !.tplRef.createEmbeddedView({});
+
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes.length).toBe(2);
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes[0].nodeType)
+          .toBe(8);  // a comment node (only!) corresponding to <ng-container>
+      expect(viewRef.rootNodes[1].nodeType).toBe(3);  // a text node
+    });
+  });
+});
\ No newline at end of file