diff --git a/src/ListGroupItem.js b/src/ListGroupItem.js
index dae133d54f..ac79d8bd37 100644
--- a/src/ListGroupItem.js
+++ b/src/ListGroupItem.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 import React, { cloneElement } from 'react';
 import BootstrapMixin from './BootstrapMixin';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
-
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const ListGroupItem = React.createClass({
   mixins: [BootstrapMixin],
@@ -51,12 +51,12 @@ const ListGroupItem = React.createClass({
 
   renderAnchor(classes) {
     return (
-      <a
+      <SafeAnchor
         {...this.props}
         className={classNames(this.props.className, classes)}
       >
         {this.props.header ? this.renderStructuredContent() : this.props.children}
-      </a>
+      </SafeAnchor>
     );
   },
 
diff --git a/src/MenuItem.js b/src/MenuItem.js
index d5bdce7a89..bf63602cfd 100644
--- a/src/MenuItem.js
+++ b/src/MenuItem.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const MenuItem = React.createClass({
   propTypes: {
@@ -15,7 +16,6 @@ const MenuItem = React.createClass({
 
   getDefaultProps() {
     return {
-      href: '#',
       active: false
     };
   },
@@ -29,9 +29,9 @@ const MenuItem = React.createClass({
 
   renderAnchor() {
     return (
-      <a onClick={this.handleClick} href={this.props.href} target={this.props.target} title={this.props.title} tabIndex="-1">
+      <SafeAnchor onClick={this.handleClick} href={this.props.href} target={this.props.target} title={this.props.title} tabIndex="-1">
         {this.props.children}
-      </a>
+      </SafeAnchor>
     );
   },
 
diff --git a/src/NavItem.js b/src/NavItem.js
index 9bc768df48..8613635567 100644
--- a/src/NavItem.js
+++ b/src/NavItem.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
 import BootstrapMixin from './BootstrapMixin';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const NavItem = React.createClass({
   mixins: [BootstrapMixin],
@@ -15,12 +16,6 @@ const NavItem = React.createClass({
     target: React.PropTypes.string
   },
 
-  getDefaultProps() {
-    return {
-      href: '#'
-    };
-  },
-
   render() {
     let {
         disabled,
@@ -38,8 +33,7 @@ const NavItem = React.createClass({
           href,
           title,
           target,
-          onClick: this.handleClick,
-          ref: 'anchor'
+          onClick: this.handleClick
         };
 
     if (href === '#') {
@@ -48,9 +42,9 @@ const NavItem = React.createClass({
 
     return (
       <li {...props} className={classNames(props.className, classes)}>
-        <a {...linkProps}>
+        <SafeAnchor {...linkProps}>
           { children }
-        </a>
+        </SafeAnchor>
       </li>
     );
   },
diff --git a/src/PageItem.js b/src/PageItem.js
index 5a7c22d7f9..44ef5e419c 100644
--- a/src/PageItem.js
+++ b/src/PageItem.js
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import classNames from 'classnames';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const PageItem = React.createClass({
 
@@ -14,12 +15,6 @@ const PageItem = React.createClass({
     eventKey: React.PropTypes.any
   },
 
-  getDefaultProps() {
-    return {
-      href: '#'
-    };
-  },
-
   render() {
     let classes = {
       'disabled': this.props.disabled,
@@ -31,14 +26,13 @@ const PageItem = React.createClass({
       <li
         {...this.props}
         className={classNames(this.props.className, classes)}>
-        <a
+        <SafeAnchor
           href={this.props.href}
           title={this.props.title}
           target={this.props.target}
-          onClick={this.handleSelect}
-          ref="anchor">
+          onClick={this.handleSelect}>
           {this.props.children}
-        </a>
+        </SafeAnchor>
       </li>
     );
   },
diff --git a/src/SafeAnchor.js b/src/SafeAnchor.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..8316bbe634
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/SafeAnchor.js
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import React from 'react';
+
+/**
+ * Note: This is intended as a stop-gap for accessibility concerns that the
+ * Bootstrap CSS does not address as they have styled anchors and not buttons
+ * in many cases.
+ */
+export default class SafeAnchor extends React.Component {
+  constructor(props) {
+    super(props);
+
+    this.handleClick = this.handleClick.bind(this);
+  }
+
+  handleClick(event) {
+    if (this.props.href === undefined) {
+      event.preventDefault();
+    }
+
+    if (this.props.onClick) {
+      this.props.onClick(event);
+    }
+  }
+
+  render() {
+    return (
+      <a role={this.props.href ? undefined : 'button'}
+        {...this.props}
+        onClick={this.handleClick}
+        href={this.props.href || ''}/>
+    );
+  }
+}
+
+SafeAnchor.propTypes = {
+  href: React.PropTypes.string,
+  onClick: React.PropTypes.func
+};
diff --git a/src/SubNav.js b/src/SubNav.js
index e9487c1ada..814604cc76 100644
--- a/src/SubNav.js
+++ b/src/SubNav.js
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ import classNames from 'classnames';
 import ValidComponentChildren from './utils/ValidComponentChildren';
 import createChainedFunction from './utils/createChainedFunction';
 import BootstrapMixin from './BootstrapMixin';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const SubNav = React.createClass({
   mixins: [BootstrapMixin],
@@ -99,14 +100,13 @@ const SubNav = React.createClass({
 
     return (
       <li {...this.props} className={classNames(this.props.className, classes)}>
-        <a
+        <SafeAnchor
           href={this.props.href}
           title={this.props.title}
           target={this.props.target}
-          onClick={this.handleClick}
-          ref="anchor">
+          onClick={this.handleClick}>
           {this.props.text}
-        </a>
+        </SafeAnchor>
         <ul className="nav">
           {ValidComponentChildren.map(this.props.children, this.renderNavItem)}
         </ul>
diff --git a/src/Thumbnail.js b/src/Thumbnail.js
index ea05cf85d2..8085e63fea 100644
--- a/src/Thumbnail.js
+++ b/src/Thumbnail.js
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 import React from 'react';
 import classSet from 'classnames';
 import BootstrapMixin from './BootstrapMixin';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 
 const Thumbnail = React.createClass({
   mixins: [BootstrapMixin],
@@ -16,9 +17,9 @@ const Thumbnail = React.createClass({
 
     if(this.props.href) {
       return (
-        <a {...this.props} href={this.props.href} className={classSet(this.props.className, classes)}>
+        <SafeAnchor {...this.props} href={this.props.href} className={classSet(this.props.className, classes)}>
           <img src={this.props.src} alt={this.props.alt} />
-        </a>
+        </SafeAnchor>
       );
     }
     else {
diff --git a/src/index.js b/src/index.js
index 0f05aed32f..ed0d61b513 100644
--- a/src/index.js
+++ b/src/index.js
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@ import Pager from './Pager';
 import Popover from './Popover';
 import ProgressBar from './ProgressBar';
 import Row from './Row';
+import SafeAnchor from './SafeAnchor';
 import SplitButton from './SplitButton';
 import SubNav from './SubNav';
 import TabbedArea from './TabbedArea';
@@ -97,6 +98,7 @@ export default {
   Popover,
   ProgressBar,
   Row,
+  SafeAnchor,
   SplitButton,
   SubNav,
   TabbedArea,
diff --git a/test/NavSpec.js b/test/NavSpec.js
index 81a8d09fe4..1061edb738 100644
--- a/test/NavSpec.js
+++ b/test/NavSpec.js
@@ -83,9 +83,9 @@ describe('Nav', function () {
           </Nav>
         );
 
-    let items = ReactTestUtils.scryRenderedComponentsWithType(instance, NavItem);
+    let items = ReactTestUtils.scryRenderedDOMComponentsWithTag(instance, 'A');
 
-    ReactTestUtils.Simulate.click(items[1].refs.anchor);
+    ReactTestUtils.Simulate.click(items[1]);
   });
 
   it('Should set the correct item active by href', function () {
diff --git a/test/PageItemSpec.js b/test/PageItemSpec.js
index 99e3d0b10d..7f079f4be2 100644
--- a/test/PageItemSpec.js
+++ b/test/PageItemSpec.js
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ describe('PageItem', function () {
   it('Should call "onSelect" when item is clicked', function (done) {
     function handleSelect(key, href) {
       assert.equal(key, 1);
-      assert.equal(href, '#');
+      assert.equal(href, undefined);
       done();
     }
     let instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(
diff --git a/test/SafeAnchorSpec.js b/test/SafeAnchorSpec.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..75b9d0a8de
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/SafeAnchorSpec.js
@@ -0,0 +1,93 @@
+import React from 'react';
+import ReactTestUtils from 'react/lib/ReactTestUtils';
+import SafeAnchor from '../src/SafeAnchor';
+
+describe('SafeAnchor', function() {
+  it('renders an anchor tag', function() {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor />);
+    const node = React.findDOMNode(instance);
+
+    node.tagName.should.equal('A');
+  });
+
+  it('forwards arbitrary props to the anchor', function() {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor herpa='derpa' />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.herpa.should.equal('derpa');
+  });
+
+  it('forwards provided href', function() {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor href='http://google.com' />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.href.should.equal('http://google.com');
+  });
+
+  it('ensures that an href is provided', function() {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.href.should.equal('');
+  });
+
+  it('forwards onClick handler', function(done) {
+    const handleClick = (event) => {
+      done();
+    };
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor onClick={handleClick} />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    ReactTestUtils.Simulate.click(anchor);
+  });
+
+  it('prevents default when no href is provided', function(done) {
+    const handleClick = (event) => {
+      event.defaultPrevented.should.be.true;
+      done();
+    };
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor onClick={handleClick} />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    ReactTestUtils.Simulate.click(anchor);
+  });
+
+  it('does not prevent default when href is provided', function(done) {
+    const handleClick = (event) => {
+      expect(event.defaultPrevented).to.not.be.ok;
+      done();
+    };
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor href='#' onClick={handleClick} />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    ReactTestUtils.Simulate.click(anchor);
+  });
+
+  it('forwards provided role', function () {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor role='test' />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.role.should.equal('test');
+  });
+
+  it('forwards provided role with href', function () {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor role='test' href='http://google.com' />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.role.should.equal('test');
+  });
+
+  it('set role=button with no provided href', function () {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    anchor.props.role.should.equal('button');
+  });
+
+  it('sets no role with provided href', function () {
+    const instance = ReactTestUtils.renderIntoDocument(<SafeAnchor href='http://google.com' />);
+    const anchor = ReactTestUtils.findRenderedDOMComponentWithTag(instance, 'A');
+
+    expect(anchor.props.role).to.be.undefined;
+  });
+});