diff --git a/src/react-image-lightbox.js b/src/react-image-lightbox.js
index f62174d1..835bc19c 100644
--- a/src/react-image-lightbox.js
+++ b/src/react-image-lightbox.js
@@ -608,7 +608,6 @@ class ReactImageLightbox extends Component {
    */
   handleOuterMousewheel(event) {
     // Prevent scrolling of the background
-    event.preventDefault();
     event.stopPropagation();
 
     const xThreshold = WHEEL_MOVE_X_THRESHOLD;
@@ -658,7 +657,6 @@ class ReactImageLightbox extends Component {
   }
 
   handleImageMouseWheel(event) {
-    event.preventDefault();
     const yThreshold = WHEEL_MOVE_Y_THRESHOLD;
 
     if (Math.abs(event.deltaY) >= Math.abs(event.deltaX)) {