diff --git a/src/button.js b/src/button.js
index 60eb450d..104955e0 100644
--- a/src/button.js
+++ b/src/button.js
@@ -137,11 +137,7 @@ $.Button = function( options ) {
             this.tooltip;
 
         this.element.style.position = "relative";
-        if ( typeof this.element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            this.element.style.touchAction = 'none';
-        } else if ( typeof this.element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            this.element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-        }
+        $.setElementTouchActionNone( this.element );
 
         this.imgGroup.style.position =
         this.imgHover.style.position =
diff --git a/src/buttongroup.js b/src/buttongroup.js
index 977d616a..2837805a 100644
--- a/src/buttongroup.js
+++ b/src/buttongroup.js
@@ -80,11 +80,7 @@ $.ButtonGroup = function( options ) {
         }
     }
 
-    if ( typeof this.element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.touchAction = 'none';
-    } else if ( typeof this.element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-    }
+    $.setElementTouchActionNone( this.element );
 
     /**
      * Tracks mouse/touch/key events accross the group of buttons.
diff --git a/src/navigator.js b/src/navigator.js
index 410f99b8..24d35a3d 100644
--- a/src/navigator.js
+++ b/src/navigator.js
@@ -112,11 +112,7 @@ $.Navigator = function( options ){
 
     options.minPixelRatio = this.minPixelRatio = viewer.minPixelRatio;
 
-    if ( typeof this.element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.touchAction = 'none';
-    } else if ( typeof this.element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-    }
+    $.setElementTouchActionNone( this.element );
 
     this.borderWidth = 2;
     //At some browser magnification levels the display regions lines up correctly, but at some there appears to
diff --git a/src/openseadragon.js b/src/openseadragon.js
index e628ff88..5bccc84b 100644
--- a/src/openseadragon.js
+++ b/src/openseadragon.js
@@ -1585,6 +1585,21 @@ window.OpenSeadragon = window.OpenSeadragon || function( options ){
         },
 
 
+        /**
+         * Sets the specified element's touch-action style attribute to 'none'.
+         * @function
+         * @param {Element|String} element
+         */
+        setElementTouchActionNone: function( element ) {
+            element = $.getElement( element );
+            if ( typeof element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
+                element.style.touchAction = 'none';
+            } else if ( typeof element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
+                element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
+            }
+        },
+
+
         /**
          * Add the specified CSS class to the element if not present.
          * @function
diff --git a/src/referencestrip.js b/src/referencestrip.js
index 6a70c634..f68744b2 100644
--- a/src/referencestrip.js
+++ b/src/referencestrip.js
@@ -114,11 +114,7 @@ $.ReferenceStrip = function ( options ) {
     style.background    = '#000';
     style.position      = 'relative';
 
-    if ( typeof this.element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.touchAction = 'none';
-    } else if ( typeof this.element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-        this.element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-    }
+    $.setElementTouchActionNone( this.element );
 
     $.setElementOpacity( this.element, 0.8 );
 
@@ -195,11 +191,7 @@ $.ReferenceStrip = function ( options ) {
         element.style.cssFloat      = 'left'; //Firefox
         element.style.styleFloat    = 'left'; //IE
         element.style.padding       = '2px';
-        if ( typeof element.style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            element.style.touchAction = 'none';
-        } else if ( typeof element.style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            element.style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-        }
+        $.setElementTouchActionNone( element );
 
         element.innerTracker = new $.MouseTracker( {
             element:            element,
diff --git a/src/viewer.js b/src/viewer.js
index 6558480b..46d6a527 100644
--- a/src/viewer.js
+++ b/src/viewer.js
@@ -275,13 +275,8 @@ $.Viewer = function( options ) {
         style.position = "absolute";
         style.top      = "0px";
         style.left     = "0px";
-        // Disable browser default touch handling
-        if ( typeof style.touchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            style.touchAction = 'none';
-        } else if ( typeof style.msTouchAction !== 'undefined' ) {
-            style.msTouchAction = 'none';
-        }
     }(this.canvas.style));
+    $.setElementTouchActionNone( this.canvas );
 
     //the container is created through applying the ControlDock constructor above
     this.container.className = "openseadragon-container";