diff --git a/backbone.js b/backbone.js
index 7333a278d..fe928e851 100644
--- a/backbone.js
+++ b/backbone.js
@@ -1176,8 +1176,7 @@
     // If we're sending a `PATCH` request, and we're in an old Internet Explorer
     // that still has ActiveX enabled by default, override jQuery to use that
     // for XHR instead. Remove this line when jQuery supports `PATCH` on IE8.
-    if (params.type === 'PATCH' && window.ActiveXObject &&
-          !(window.external && window.external.msActiveXFilteringEnabled)) {
+    if (params.type === 'PATCH' && noXhrPatch) {
       params.xhr = function() {
         return new ActiveXObject("Microsoft.XMLHTTP");
       };
@@ -1189,6 +1188,8 @@
     return xhr;
   };
 
+  var noXhrPatch = typeof window !== 'undefined' && !!window.ActiveXObject && !(window.XMLHttpRequest && (new XMLHttpRequest).dispatchEvent);
+
   // Map from CRUD to HTTP for our default `Backbone.sync` implementation.
   var methodMap = {
     'create': 'POST',