diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index ac228226..80477a34 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 * refactoring all unit and functional tests to use [BDD interface](https://theintern.github.io/intern/#interface-tdd) to improve clarity of a test's intent
 * fixing [`ally.maintain.tabFocus`][ally/maintain|tab-focus] to also work with <kbd>Option Tab</kbd> in Safari for macOS - [issue #146](https://github.com/medialize/ally.js/issues/146)
 * refactoring `element.prototype.matches` to `util/matches-element`
+* adding [`ally.get.activeElement`][ally/get/active-element] - [issue #119](https://github.com/medialize/ally.js/issues/119)
 
 
 ## 1.2.0 - Adios DOMTokenList
@@ -325,6 +326,7 @@ Version `1.0.0` is a complete rewrite from the the early `0.0.x` releases, there
 [ally/fix/pointer-focus-children]: http://allyjs.io/api/fix/pointer-focus-children.html
 [ally/fix/pointer-focus-input]: http://allyjs.io/api/fix/pointer-focus-input.html
 [ally/fix/pointer-focus-parent]: http://allyjs.io/api/fix/pointer-focus-parent.html
+[ally/get/active-element]: http://allyjs.io/api/get/active-element.html
 [ally/get/active-elements]: http://allyjs.io/api/get/active-elements.html
 [ally/get/focus-target]: http://allyjs.io/api/get/focus-target.html
 [ally/get/focus-redirect-target]: http://allyjs.io/api/get/focus-redirect-target.html
diff --git a/docs/api/README.md b/docs/api/README.md
index 0d7e632c..6288ac0a 100644
--- a/docs/api/README.md
+++ b/docs/api/README.md
@@ -83,6 +83,7 @@ Especially when dealing with transitional user interfaces we need to know when a
 Sometimes you need some DOM traversal utilities
 
 * [`ally.get.insignificantBranches`](get/insignificant-branches.md) returns an array containing the branches of the DOM that do contain any of the target elements
+* [`ally.get.activeElement`](get/active-element.md) identifies the element that has focus
 
 
 ## Values
diff --git a/docs/api/get/active-element.md b/docs/api/get/active-element.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..ae162fce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/api/get/active-element.md
@@ -0,0 +1,57 @@
+---
+layout: doc-api.html
+tags: shadow-dom
+---
+
+# ally.get.activeElement
+
+Identifies the element that currently has focus
+
+
+## Description
+
+This utility is a safeguard for `document.activeElement` presenting invalid references.
+
+
+## Usage
+
+```js
+var element = ally.get.activeElement();
+
+var iframeElement = ally.get.activeElement({
+  context: iframeDocument,
+});
+```
+
+### Arguments
+
+
+### Returns
+
+[`HTMLElement`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/HTMLElement).
+
+### Throws
+
+
+## Examples
+
+
+## Changes
+
+* Added in `v#master`.
+
+
+## Notes
+
+
+## Related resources
+
+* [`ally.get.activeElements`](active-elements.md)
+
+
+## Contributing
+
+* [module source](https://github.com/medialize/ally.js/blob/master/src/get/active-element.js)
+* [document source](https://github.com/medialize/ally.js/blob/master/docs/api/get/active-element.md)
+* [unit test](https://github.com/medialize/ally.js/blob/master/test/unit/get.active-element.test.js)
+
diff --git a/docs/api/get/active-elements.md b/docs/api/get/active-elements.md
index f831f24a..9d2662bd 100644
--- a/docs/api/get/active-elements.md
+++ b/docs/api/get/active-elements.md
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@ Array of [`HTMLElement`](https://developer.mozilla.org/en/docs/Web/API/HTMLEleme
 
 ## Related resources
 
+* [`ally.get.activeElements`](active-elements.md)
 * [`ally.get.shadowHostParents`](shadow-host-parents.md) is used to identify an elements `ShadowHost` ancestry
 
 
diff --git a/src/get/_get.js b/src/get/_get.js
index 75938bc9..02758013 100644
--- a/src/get/_get.js
+++ b/src/get/_get.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 
 // exporting modules to be included the UMD bundle
 
+import activeElement from './active-element';
 import activeElements from './active-elements';
 import focusRedirectTarget from './focus-redirect-target';
 import focusTarget from './focus-target';
@@ -9,6 +10,7 @@ import parents from './parents';
 import shadowHostParents from './shadow-host-parents';
 import shadowHost from './shadow-host';
 export default {
+  activeElement,
   activeElements,
   focusRedirectTarget,
   focusTarget,
diff --git a/src/get/active-element.js b/src/get/active-element.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..df4d6998
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/get/active-element.js
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+
+/*
+  create ally.get.activeElement()
+    wrapping ally.get.activeElements()
+
+  fix ally.get.activeElements()
+    https://github.com/jquery/jquery-ui/blob/ffcfb85c9818954adda69e73cf9ba76ea07b554c/ui/safe-active-element.js
+*/
+
+import getDocument from '../util/get-document';
+
+export default function({ context } = {}) {
+  const _document = getDocument(context);
+  let activeElement;
+
+  try {
+    // IE9 throws an "Unspecified error" accessing document.activeElement from an <iframe>
+    // see https://github.com/jquery/jquery-ui/blob/ffcfb85c9818954adda69e73cf9ba76ea07b554c/ui/safe-active-element.js#L15-L21
+    activeElement = _document.activeElement;
+  } catch (e) {
+    // ignore
+  }
+
+  // IE11 may return null instead of an element
+  // see https://github.com/jquery/jquery-ui/blob/ffcfb85c9818954adda69e73cf9ba76ea07b554c/ui/safe-active-element.js#L23-L28
+  // https://github.com/jquery/jquery-ui/blob/ffcfb85c9818954adda69e73cf9ba76ea07b554c/ui/safe-active-element.js#L30-L35
+  if (!activeElement || !activeElement.nodeType) {
+    activeElement = _document.body || _document.documentElement;
+  }
+
+  return activeElement;
+}
diff --git a/test/helper/ally-modules.js b/test/helper/ally-modules.js
index 8916c4b6..432f7779 100644
--- a/test/helper/ally-modules.js
+++ b/test/helper/ally-modules.js
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@ define([], function() {
       'visible',
     ],
     get: [
+      'active-element',
       'active-elements',
       'focus-redirect-target',
       'focus-target',
diff --git a/test/unit/get.active-element.test.js b/test/unit/get.active-element.test.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..11f40ff5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/get.active-element.test.js
@@ -0,0 +1,86 @@
+define(function(require) {
+  'use strict';
+
+  var bdd = require('intern!bdd');
+  var expect = require('intern/chai!expect');
+  var focusableFixture = require('../helper/fixtures/focusable.fixture');
+  var TestFrame = require('../helper/test-frame');
+  var getActiveElement = require('ally/get/active-element');
+
+  bdd.describe('get/active-element', function() {
+    var fixture;
+    var frame;
+
+    bdd.before(function() {
+      fixture = focusableFixture();
+
+      frame = new TestFrame([
+        /*eslint-disable indent */
+        '<!DOCTYPE html>',
+        '<html lang="en">',
+          '<head>',
+            '<meta charset="utf-8" />',
+            '<title>Framed Content</title>',
+          '</head>',
+          '<body>',
+            '<p id="target" tabindex="0">Hello World</p>',
+          '</body>',
+        '</html>',
+        /*eslint-enable indent */
+      ].join(''));
+
+      return frame.initialize(document.body);
+    });
+
+    bdd.after(function() {
+      fixture.remove();
+      fixture = null;
+      frame.terminate();
+      frame = null;
+    });
+
+    bdd.it('should return the active element of the current document', function() {
+      var target = document.getElementById('tabindex-1');
+      target.focus();
+
+      var result = getActiveElement();
+      expect(result).to.equal(target);
+    });
+
+    bdd.it('should return the active element of the given document', function() {
+      var target = document.getElementById('tabindex-0');
+      target.focus();
+
+      var result = getActiveElement({
+        context: document,
+      });
+      expect(result).to.equal(target);
+    });
+
+    bdd.describe('for iframe', function() {
+      var target;
+
+      bdd.before(function() {
+        target = frame.document.getElementById('target');
+        target.focus();
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should return the iframe as the active element in document', function() {
+        var result = getActiveElement({
+          context: document,
+        });
+
+        expect(result).to.equal(frame.element);
+      });
+
+      bdd.it('should return the active element within iframe', function() {
+        var result = getActiveElement({
+          context: frame.document,
+        });
+
+        expect(result).to.equal(target);
+      });
+    });
+
+  });
+});