diff --git a/src/lib/select/select.html b/src/lib/select/select.html
index 0eb861f9c22f..870e7883606d 100644
--- a/src/lib/select/select.html
+++ b/src/lib/select/select.html
@@ -1,4 +1,10 @@
-<div class="mat-select-trigger" cdk-overlay-origin (click)="toggle()" #origin="cdkOverlayOrigin" #trigger>
+<div
+  cdk-overlay-origin
+  class="mat-select-trigger"
+  aria-hidden="true"
+  (click)="toggle()"
+  #origin="cdkOverlayOrigin"
+  #trigger>
   <span
     class="mat-select-placeholder"
     [class.mat-floating-placeholder]="_selectionModel.hasValue()"
diff --git a/src/lib/select/select.spec.ts b/src/lib/select/select.spec.ts
index 55a43089a3bd..1eb10c913d16 100644
--- a/src/lib/select/select.spec.ts
+++ b/src/lib/select/select.spec.ts
@@ -1729,6 +1729,15 @@ describe('MdSelect', () => {
         expect(document.activeElement).toBe(select, 'Expected select element to be focused.');
       });
 
+      // Having `aria-hidden` on the trigger avoids issues where
+      // screen readers read out the wrong amount of options.
+      it('should set aria-hidden on the trigger element', () => {
+        const trigger = fixture.debugElement.query(By.css('.mat-select-trigger')).nativeElement;
+
+        expect(trigger.getAttribute('aria-hidden'))
+            .toBe('true', 'Expected aria-hidden to be true when the select is open.');
+      });
+
     });
 
     describe('for options', () => {