diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
index 9451de9ff9..e617156536 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/parser.ts
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ import {ParseError, ParseSourceSpan} from '../parse_util';
 import * as html from './ast';
 import {DEFAULT_INTERPOLATION_CONFIG, InterpolationConfig} from './interpolation_config';
 import * as lex from './lexer';
-import {TagDefinition, getNsPrefix, mergeNsAndName} from './tags';
+import {TagDefinition, getNsPrefix, isNgContainer, mergeNsAndName} from './tags';
 
 export class TreeError extends ParseError {
   static create(elementName: string|null, span: ParseSourceSpan, msg: string): TreeError {
@@ -352,11 +352,12 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
    *
    * `<ng-container>` elements are skipped as they are not rendered as DOM element.
    */
-  private _getParentElementSkippingContainers(): {parent: html.Element, container: html.Element} {
-    let container: html.Element = null !;
+  private _getParentElementSkippingContainers():
+      {parent: html.Element, container: html.Element|null} {
+    let container: html.Element|null = null;
 
     for (let i = this._elementStack.length - 1; i >= 0; i--) {
-      if (this._elementStack[i].name !== 'ng-container') {
+      if (!isNgContainer(this._elementStack[i].name)) {
         return {parent: this._elementStack[i], container};
       }
       container = this._elementStack[i];
@@ -382,7 +383,7 @@ class _TreeBuilder {
    * @internal
    */
   private _insertBeforeContainer(
-      parent: html.Element, container: html.Element, node: html.Element) {
+      parent: html.Element, container: html.Element|null, node: html.Element) {
     if (!container) {
       this._addToParent(node);
       this._elementStack.push(node);
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/tags.ts b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/tags.ts
index bcdca5647f..0a882b6c51 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/tags.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/ml_parser/tags.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ export enum TagContentType {
   PARSABLE_DATA
 }
 
-// TODO(vicb): read-only when TS supports it
 export interface TagDefinition {
   closedByParent: boolean;
   requiredParents: {[key: string]: boolean};
@@ -42,6 +41,21 @@ export function splitNsName(elementName: string): [string | null, string] {
   return [elementName.slice(1, colonIndex), elementName.slice(colonIndex + 1)];
 }
 
+// `<ng-container>` tags work the same regardless the namespace
+export function isNgContainer(tagName: string): boolean {
+  return splitNsName(tagName)[1] === 'ng-container';
+}
+
+// `<ng-content>` tags work the same regardless the namespace
+export function isNgContent(tagName: string): boolean {
+  return splitNsName(tagName)[1] === 'ng-content';
+}
+
+// `<ng-template>` tags work the same regardless the namespace
+export function isNgTemplate(tagName: string): boolean {
+  return splitNsName(tagName)[1] === 'ng-template';
+}
+
 export function getNsPrefix(fullName: string): string
 export function getNsPrefix(fullName: null): null;
     export function getNsPrefix(fullName: string | null): string |
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/schema/dom_element_schema_registry.ts b/packages/compiler/src/schema/dom_element_schema_registry.ts
index 8c8486be8a..a235bb6d74 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/schema/dom_element_schema_registry.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/schema/dom_element_schema_registry.ts
@@ -6,9 +6,10 @@
  * found in the LICENSE file at https://angular.io/license
  */
 
-import {AUTO_STYLE, CUSTOM_ELEMENTS_SCHEMA, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA, SchemaMetadata, SecurityContext} from '@angular/core';
-import {CompilerInjectable} from '../injectable';
+import {CUSTOM_ELEMENTS_SCHEMA, NO_ERRORS_SCHEMA, SchemaMetadata, SecurityContext} from '@angular/core';
 
+import {CompilerInjectable} from '../injectable';
+import {isNgContainer, isNgContent} from '../ml_parser/tags';
 import {dashCaseToCamelCase} from '../util';
 
 import {SECURITY_SCHEMA} from './dom_security_schema';
@@ -288,7 +289,7 @@ export class DomElementSchemaRegistry extends ElementSchemaRegistry {
     }
 
     if (tagName.indexOf('-') > -1) {
-      if (tagName === 'ng-container' || tagName === 'ng-content') {
+      if (isNgContainer(tagName) || isNgContent(tagName)) {
         return false;
       }
 
@@ -309,7 +310,7 @@ export class DomElementSchemaRegistry extends ElementSchemaRegistry {
     }
 
     if (tagName.indexOf('-') > -1) {
-      if (tagName === 'ng-container' || tagName === 'ng-content') {
+      if (isNgContainer(tagName) || isNgContent(tagName)) {
         return true;
       }
 
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts b/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
index fccec81903..6a7f86c266 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_parser.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@
  */
 
 import {Inject, InjectionToken, Optional, SchemaMetadata, ɵConsole as Console} from '@angular/core';
-import {CompileDirectiveMetadata, CompileDirectiveSummary, CompilePipeSummary, CompileTemplateSummary, CompileTokenMetadata, CompileTypeMetadata, identifierName} from '../compile_metadata';
+
+import {CompileDirectiveMetadata, CompileDirectiveSummary, CompilePipeSummary, CompileTokenMetadata, CompileTypeMetadata, identifierName} from '../compile_metadata';
 import {CompilerConfig} from '../config';
 import {AST, ASTWithSource, EmptyExpr} from '../expression_parser/ast';
 import {Parser} from '../expression_parser/parser';
@@ -18,13 +19,14 @@ import * as html from '../ml_parser/ast';
 import {ParseTreeResult} from '../ml_parser/html_parser';
 import {expandNodes} from '../ml_parser/icu_ast_expander';
 import {InterpolationConfig} from '../ml_parser/interpolation_config';
-import {splitNsName} from '../ml_parser/tags';
+import {isNgTemplate, splitNsName} from '../ml_parser/tags';
 import {ParseError, ParseErrorLevel, ParseSourceSpan} from '../parse_util';
 import {ProviderElementContext, ProviderViewContext} from '../provider_analyzer';
 import {ElementSchemaRegistry} from '../schema/element_schema_registry';
 import {CssSelector, SelectorMatcher} from '../selector';
 import {isStyleUrlResolvable} from '../style_url_resolver';
 import {syntaxError} from '../util';
+
 import {BindingParser, BoundProperty} from './binding_parser';
 import {AttrAst, BoundDirectivePropertyAst, BoundElementPropertyAst, BoundEventAst, BoundTextAst, DirectiveAst, ElementAst, EmbeddedTemplateAst, NgContentAst, PropertyBindingType, ReferenceAst, TemplateAst, TemplateAstVisitor, TextAst, VariableAst, templateVisitAll} from './template_ast';
 import {PreparsedElementType, preparseElement} from './template_preparser';
@@ -53,7 +55,6 @@ const IDENT_PROPERTY_IDX = 9;
 // Group 10 = identifier inside ()
 const IDENT_EVENT_IDX = 10;
 
-const NG_TEMPLATE_ELEMENT = 'ng-template';
 // deprecated in 4.x
 const TEMPLATE_ELEMENT = 'template';
 // deprecated in 4.x
@@ -891,9 +892,8 @@ function isEmptyExpression(ast: AST): boolean {
 function isTemplate(
     el: html.Element, enableLegacyTemplate: boolean,
     reportDeprecation: (m: string, span: ParseSourceSpan) => void): boolean {
+  if (isNgTemplate(el.name)) return true;
   const tagNoNs = splitNsName(el.name)[1];
-  // `<ng-template>` is an angular construct and is lower case
-  if (tagNoNs === NG_TEMPLATE_ELEMENT) return true;
   // `<template>` is HTML and case insensitive
   if (tagNoNs.toLowerCase() === TEMPLATE_ELEMENT) {
     if (enableLegacyTemplate && tagNoNs.toLowerCase() === TEMPLATE_ELEMENT) {
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_preparser.ts b/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_preparser.ts
index 45d20755d1..f0b484240d 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_preparser.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/template_parser/template_preparser.ts
@@ -7,10 +7,9 @@
  */
 
 import * as html from '../ml_parser/ast';
-import {splitNsName} from '../ml_parser/tags';
+import {isNgContent} from '../ml_parser/tags';
 
 const NG_CONTENT_SELECT_ATTR = 'select';
-const NG_CONTENT_ELEMENT = 'ng-content';
 const LINK_ELEMENT = 'link';
 const LINK_STYLE_REL_ATTR = 'rel';
 const LINK_STYLE_HREF_ATTR = 'href';
@@ -45,7 +44,7 @@ export function preparseElement(ast: html.Element): PreparsedElement {
   selectAttr = normalizeNgContentSelect(selectAttr);
   const nodeName = ast.name.toLowerCase();
   let type = PreparsedElementType.OTHER;
-  if (splitNsName(nodeName)[1] == NG_CONTENT_ELEMENT) {
+  if (isNgContent(nodeName)) {
     type = PreparsedElementType.NG_CONTENT;
   } else if (nodeName == STYLE_ELEMENT) {
     type = PreparsedElementType.STYLE;
diff --git a/packages/compiler/src/view_compiler/view_compiler.ts b/packages/compiler/src/view_compiler/view_compiler.ts
index c39bfd2309..7c8efabd2e 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/src/view_compiler/view_compiler.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/src/view_compiler/view_compiler.ts
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@ import {CompilerConfig} from '../config';
 import {AST, ASTWithSource, Interpolation} from '../expression_parser/ast';
 import {Identifiers, createIdentifier, createIdentifierToken, resolveIdentifier} from '../identifiers';
 import {CompilerInjectable} from '../injectable';
+import {isNgContainer} from '../ml_parser/tags';
 import * as o from '../output/output_ast';
 import {convertValueToOutputAst} from '../output/value_util';
 import {ParseSourceSpan} from '../parse_util';
@@ -302,11 +303,8 @@ class ViewBuilder implements TemplateAstVisitor, LocalResolver {
     // reserve the space in the nodeDefs array so we can add children
     this.nodes.push(null !);
 
-    let elName: string|null = ast.name;
-    if (ast.name === NG_CONTAINER_TAG) {
-      // Using a null element name creates an anchor.
-      elName = null;
-    }
+    // Using a null element name creates an anchor.
+    const elName: string|null = isNgContainer(ast.name) ? null : ast.name;
 
     const {flags, usedEvents, queryMatchesExpr, hostBindings: dirHostBindings, hostEvents} =
         this._visitElementOrTemplate(nodeIndex, ast);
@@ -988,7 +986,7 @@ function needsAdditionalRootNode(astNodes: TemplateAst[]): boolean {
   }
 
   if (lastAstNode instanceof ElementAst) {
-    if (lastAstNode.name === NG_CONTAINER_TAG && lastAstNode.children.length) {
+    if (isNgContainer(lastAstNode.name) && lastAstNode.children.length) {
       return needsAdditionalRootNode(lastAstNode.children);
     }
     return lastAstNode.hasViewContainer;
@@ -1068,7 +1066,6 @@ function fixedAttrsDef(elementAst: ElementAst): o.Expression {
       mapResult[name] = prevValue != null ? mergeAttributeValue(name, prevValue, value) : value;
     });
   });
-  const mapEntries: o.LiteralMapEntry[] = [];
   // Note: We need to sort to get a defined output order
   // for tests and for caching generated artifacts...
   return o.literalArr(Object.keys(mapResult).sort().map(
@@ -1197,4 +1194,4 @@ function calcStaticDynamicQueryFlags(
     flags |= NodeFlags.DynamicQuery;
   }
   return flags;
-}
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/packages/compiler/test/integration_spec.ts b/packages/compiler/test/integration_spec.ts
index 0bec6fba33..c8c4e15e4a 100644
--- a/packages/compiler/test/integration_spec.ts
+++ b/packages/compiler/test/integration_spec.ts
@@ -9,14 +9,15 @@
 import {Component, Directive, Input} from '@angular/core';
 import {ComponentFixture, TestBed, async} from '@angular/core/testing';
 import {By} from '@angular/platform-browser/src/dom/debug/by';
+import {getDOM} from '@angular/platform-browser/src/dom/dom_adapter';
+import {browserDetection} from '@angular/platform-browser/testing/src/browser_util';
 import {expect} from '@angular/platform-browser/testing/src/matchers';
 
 export function main() {
   describe('integration tests', () => {
     let fixture: ComponentFixture<TestComponent>;
 
-
-    describe('directiv  es', () => {
+    describe('directives', () => {
       it('should support dotted selectors', async(() => {
            @Directive({selector: '[dot.name]'})
            class MyDir {
@@ -38,6 +39,25 @@ export function main() {
          }));
     });
 
+    describe('ng-container', () => {
+      if (browserDetection.isChromeDesktop) {
+        it('should work regardless the namespace', async(() => {
+             @Component({
+               selector: 'comp',
+               template:
+                   '<svg><ng-container *ngIf="1"><rect x="10" y="10" width="30" height="30"></rect></ng-container></svg>',
+             })
+             class MyCmp {
+             }
+
+             const f =
+                 TestBed.configureTestingModule({declarations: [MyCmp]}).createComponent(MyCmp);
+             f.detectChanges();
+
+             expect(f.nativeElement.children[0].children[0].tagName).toEqual('rect');
+           }));
+      }
+    });
   });
 }