diff --git a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/NetworkHelper.jsm b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/NetworkHelper.jsm
index a2dd3bb077c..853d4448325 100644
--- a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/NetworkHelper.jsm
+++ b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/NetworkHelper.jsm
@@ -212,10 +212,9 @@ var NetworkHelper =
    */
   getWindowForRequest: function NH_getWindowForRequest(aRequest)
   {
-    let loadContext = this.getRequestLoadContext(aRequest);
-    if (loadContext) {
-      return loadContext.associatedWindow;
-    }
+    try {
+      return this.getRequestLoadContext(aRequest).associatedWindow;
+    } catch (ex) { }
     return null;
   },
 
@@ -227,18 +226,13 @@ var NetworkHelper =
    */
   getRequestLoadContext: function NH_getRequestLoadContext(aRequest)
   {
-    if (aRequest && aRequest.notificationCallbacks) {
-      try {
-        return aRequest.notificationCallbacks.getInterface(Ci.nsILoadContext);
-      } catch (ex) { }
-    }
+    try {
+      return aRequest.notificationCallbacks.getInterface(Ci.nsILoadContext);
+    } catch (ex) { }
 
-    if (aRequest && aRequest.loadGroup
-                 && aRequest.loadGroup.notificationCallbacks) {
-      try {
-        return aRequest.loadGroup.notificationCallbacks.getInterface(Ci.nsILoadContext);
-      } catch (ex) { }
-    }
+    try {
+      return aRequest.loadGroup.notificationCallbacks.getInterface(Ci.nsILoadContext);
+    } catch (ex) { }
 
     return null;
   },
diff --git a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/WebConsoleUtils.jsm b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/WebConsoleUtils.jsm
index d057190c6b0..e936c3acb4b 100644
--- a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/WebConsoleUtils.jsm
+++ b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/WebConsoleUtils.jsm
@@ -2590,16 +2590,16 @@ _global.NetworkResponseListener = NetworkResponseListener;
  * location changes.
  *
  * @constructor
- * @param object aBrowser
- *        The xul:browser for which we need to track location changes.
+ * @param object aWindow
+ *        The window for which we need to track location changes.
  * @param object aOwner
  *        The listener owner which needs to implement two methods:
  *        - onFileActivity(aFileURI)
  *        - onLocationChange(aState, aTabURI, aPageTitle)
  */
-function ConsoleProgressListener(aBrowser, aOwner)
+function ConsoleProgressListener(aWindow, aOwner)
 {
-  this.browser = aBrowser;
+  this.window = aWindow;
   this.owner = aOwner;
 }
 
@@ -2637,6 +2637,8 @@ ConsoleProgressListener.prototype = {
    */
   _initialized: false,
 
+  _webProgress: null,
+
   QueryInterface: XPCOMUtils.generateQI([Ci.nsIWebProgressListener,
                                          Ci.nsISupportsWeakReference]),
 
@@ -2650,8 +2652,13 @@ ConsoleProgressListener.prototype = {
       return;
     }
 
+    this._webProgress = this.window.QueryInterface(Ci.nsIInterfaceRequestor)
+                        .getInterface(Ci.nsIWebNavigation)
+                        .QueryInterface(Ci.nsIWebProgress);
+    this._webProgress.addProgressListener(this,
+                                          Ci.nsIWebProgress.NOTIFY_STATE_ALL);
+
     this._initialized = true;
-    this.browser.addProgressListener(this, Ci.nsIWebProgress.NOTIFY_STATE_ALL);
   },
 
   /**
@@ -2768,8 +2775,7 @@ ConsoleProgressListener.prototype = {
     let isWindow = aState & Ci.nsIWebProgressListener.STATE_IS_WINDOW;
 
     // Skip non-interesting states.
-    if (!isNetwork || !isWindow ||
-        aProgress.DOMWindow != this.browser.contentWindow) {
+    if (!isNetwork || !isWindow || aProgress.DOMWindow != this.window) {
       return;
     }
 
@@ -2777,9 +2783,8 @@ ConsoleProgressListener.prototype = {
       this.owner.onLocationChange("start", aRequest.URI.spec, "");
     }
     else if (isStop) {
-      let window = this.browser.contentWindow;
-      this.owner.onLocationChange("stop", window.location.href,
-                                  window.document.title);
+      this.owner.onLocationChange("stop", this.window.location.href,
+                                  this.window.document.title);
     }
   },
 
@@ -2801,11 +2806,15 @@ ConsoleProgressListener.prototype = {
     this._fileActivity = false;
     this._locationChange = false;
 
-    if (this.browser.removeProgressListener) {
-      this.browser.removeProgressListener(this);
+    try {
+      this._webProgress.removeProgressListener(this);
+    }
+    catch (ex) {
+      // This can throw during browser shutdown.
     }
 
-    this.browser = null;
+    this._webProgress = null;
+    this.window = null;
     this.owner = null;
   },
 };
diff --git a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/dbg-webconsole-actors.js b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/dbg-webconsole-actors.js
index 19529438ccf..59885f65861 100644
--- a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/dbg-webconsole-actors.js
+++ b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/dbg-webconsole-actors.js
@@ -47,15 +47,20 @@ XPCOMUtils.defineLazyModuleGetter(this, "ConsoleAPIStorage",
  * @constructor
  * @param object aConnection
  *        The connection to the client, DebuggerServerConnection.
- * @param object [aTabActor]
- *        Optional, the parent tab actor. This must be an instance of
- *        BrowserTabActor.
+ * @param object [aParentActor]
+ *        Optional, the parent actor.
  */
-function WebConsoleActor(aConnection, aTabActor)
+function WebConsoleActor(aConnection, aParentActor)
 {
   this.conn = aConnection;
-  if (aTabActor instanceof BrowserTabActor) {
-    this._browser = aTabActor.browser;
+
+  if (aParentActor instanceof BrowserTabActor &&
+      aParentActor.browser instanceof Ci.nsIDOMWindow) {
+    this._window = aParentActor.browser;
+  }
+  else if (aParentActor instanceof BrowserTabActor &&
+           aParentActor.browser instanceof Ci.nsIDOMElement) {
+    this._window = aParentActor.browser.contentWindow;
   }
   else {
     this._window = Services.wm.getMostRecentWindow("navigator:browser");
@@ -73,14 +78,6 @@ function WebConsoleActor(aConnection, aTabActor)
 
 WebConsoleActor.prototype =
 {
-  /**
-   * The xul:browser we work with. This is only available when the Web Console
-   * actor is a tab actor.
-   * @private
-   * @type nsIDOMElement
-   */
-  _browser: null,
-
   /**
    * Tells if this Web Console actor is a global actor or not.
    * @private
@@ -137,7 +134,7 @@ WebConsoleActor.prototype =
    * The content window we work with.
    * @type nsIDOMWindow
    */
-  get window() this._browser ? this._browser.contentWindow : this._window,
+  get window() this._window,
 
   _window: null,
 
@@ -220,7 +217,7 @@ WebConsoleActor.prototype =
     this._objectActorsPool = null;
     this._networkEventActorsPool = null;
     this._sandboxLocation = this.sandbox = null;
-    this.conn = this._browser = this._window = null;
+    this.conn = this._window = null;
   },
 
   /**
@@ -332,26 +329,18 @@ WebConsoleActor.prototype =
           startedListeners.push(listener);
           break;
         case "FileActivity":
-          if (this._isGlobalActor) {
-            // The ConsoleProgressListener cannot listen for global events.
-            // See bug 798764.
-            break;
-          }
           if (!this.consoleProgressListener) {
             this.consoleProgressListener =
-              new ConsoleProgressListener(this._browser, this);
+              new ConsoleProgressListener(this.window, this);
           }
           this.consoleProgressListener.startMonitor(this.consoleProgressListener.
                                                     MONITOR_FILE_ACTIVITY);
           startedListeners.push(listener);
           break;
         case "LocationChange":
-          if (this._isGlobalActor) {
-            break;
-          }
           if (!this.consoleProgressListener) {
             this.consoleProgressListener =
-              new ConsoleProgressListener(this._browser, this);
+              new ConsoleProgressListener(this.window, this);
           }
           this.consoleProgressListener.startMonitor(this.consoleProgressListener.
                                                     MONITOR_LOCATION_CHANGE);
diff --git a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/Makefile.in b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/Makefile.in
index 8eab0267d87..75bba21a650 100644
--- a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/Makefile.in
+++ b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/Makefile.in
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ MOCHITEST_CHROME_FILES = \
     test_object_actor.html \
     test_network_get.html \
     test_network_post.html \
+    test_file_uri.html \
     network_requests_iframe.html \
     data.json \
     common.js \
diff --git a/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/test_file_uri.html b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/test_file_uri.html
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0a8ae55a53a
--- /dev/null
+++ b/toolkit/devtools/webconsole/test/test_file_uri.html
@@ -0,0 +1,97 @@
+<!DOCTYPE HTML>
+<html lang="en">
+<head>
+  <meta charset="utf8">
+  <title>Test for file activity tracking</title>
+  <script type="text/javascript" src="chrome://mochikit/content/tests/SimpleTest/SimpleTest.js"></script>
+  <script type="text/javascript;version=1.8" src="common.js"></script>
+  <!-- Any copyright is dedicated to the Public Domain.
+     - http://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ -->
+</head>
+<body>
+<p>Test for file activity tracking</p>
+
+<script class="testbody" type="text/javascript;version=1.8">
+SimpleTest.waitForExplicitFinish();
+
+Cu.import("resource://gre/modules/NetUtil.jsm");
+Cu.import("resource://gre/modules/FileUtils.jsm");
+
+let gState;
+let gTmpFile;
+
+function doFileActivity()
+{
+  info("doFileActivity");
+  let fileContent = "<p>hello world from bug 798764";
+
+  gTmpFile = FileUtils.getFile("TmpD", ["bug798764.html"]);
+  gTmpFile.createUnique(Ci.nsIFile.NORMAL_FILE_TYPE, FileUtils.PERMS_FILE);
+
+  let fout = FileUtils.openSafeFileOutputStream(gTmpFile,
+    FileUtils.MODE_WRONLY | FileUtils.MODE_CREATE | FileUtils.MODE_TRUNCATE);
+
+  let converter = Cc["@mozilla.org/intl/scriptableunicodeconverter"].
+                  createInstance(Ci.nsIScriptableUnicodeConverter);
+  converter.charset = "UTF-8";
+  let fileContentStream = converter.convertToInputStream(fileContent);
+
+  NetUtil.asyncCopy(fileContentStream, fout, addIframe);
+}
+
+function addIframe(aStatus)
+{
+  ok(Components.isSuccessCode(aStatus),
+     "the temporary file was saved successfully");
+
+  let iframe = document.createElement("iframe");
+  iframe.src = NetUtil.newURI(gTmpFile).spec;
+  document.body.appendChild(iframe);
+}
+
+function startTest()
+{
+  removeEventListener("load", startTest);
+
+  attachConsole(["FileActivity"], onAttach);
+}
+
+function onAttach(aState, aResponse)
+{
+  gState = aState;
+  gState.dbgClient.addListener("fileActivity", onFileActivity);
+  doFileActivity();
+}
+
+function onFileActivity(aType, aPacket)
+{
+  is(aPacket.from, gState.actor, "fileActivity actor");
+
+  gState.dbgClient.removeListener("fileActivity", onFileActivity);
+
+  ok(/bug798764\.html$/.test(aPacket.uri), "file URI match");
+
+  testEnd();
+}
+
+function testEnd()
+{
+  if (gTmpFile) {
+    gTmpFile.remove(false);
+    gTmpFile = null;
+  }
+
+  if (gState) {
+    closeDebugger(gState, function() {
+      gState = null;
+      SimpleTest.finish();
+    });
+  } else {
+    SimpleTest.finish();
+  }
+}
+
+addEventListener("load", startTest);
+</script>
+</body>
+</html>