diff --git a/core/java/android/text/method/LinkMovementMethod.java b/core/java/android/text/method/LinkMovementMethod.java
index 24c119f29d715..31ed549260a09 100644
--- a/core/java/android/text/method/LinkMovementMethod.java
+++ b/core/java/android/text/method/LinkMovementMethod.java
@@ -29,9 +29,6 @@ import android.widget.TextView;
 /**
  * A movement method that traverses links in the text buffer and scrolls if necessary.
  * Supports clicking on links with DPad Center or Enter.
- *
- * <p>Note: Starting from Android 8.0 (API level 25) this class no longer handles the touch
- * clicks.
  */
 public class LinkMovementMethod extends ScrollingMovementMethod {
     private static final int CLICK = 1;
@@ -198,7 +195,7 @@ public class LinkMovementMethod extends ScrollingMovementMethod {
                                 MotionEvent event) {
         int action = event.getAction();
 
-        if (action == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
+        if (action == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP || action == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
             int x = (int) event.getX();
             int y = (int) event.getY();
 
@@ -215,9 +212,13 @@ public class LinkMovementMethod extends ScrollingMovementMethod {
             ClickableSpan[] links = buffer.getSpans(off, off, ClickableSpan.class);
 
             if (links.length != 0) {
-                Selection.setSelection(buffer,
+                if (action == MotionEvent.ACTION_UP) {
+                    links[0].onClick(widget);
+                } else if (action == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN) {
+                    Selection.setSelection(buffer,
                         buffer.getSpanStart(links[0]),
                         buffer.getSpanEnd(links[0]));
+                }
                 return true;
             } else {
                 Selection.removeSelection(buffer);
diff --git a/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java b/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
index 20e325cb6d9e6..8408a80ce1ba4 100644
--- a/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
+++ b/core/java/android/widget/TextView.java
@@ -121,7 +121,6 @@ import android.view.ActionMode;
 import android.view.Choreographer;
 import android.view.ContextMenu;
 import android.view.DragEvent;
-import android.view.GestureDetector;
 import android.view.Gravity;
 import android.view.HapticFeedbackConstants;
 import android.view.KeyCharacterMap;
@@ -682,8 +681,6 @@ public class TextView extends View implements ViewTreeObserver.OnPreDrawListener
      */
     private Editor mEditor;
 
-    private GestureDetector mClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector;
-
     private static final int DEVICE_PROVISIONED_UNKNOWN = 0;
     private static final int DEVICE_PROVISIONED_NO = 1;
     private static final int DEVICE_PROVISIONED_YES = 2;
@@ -9319,24 +9316,21 @@ public class TextView extends View implements ViewTreeObserver.OnPreDrawListener
                 handled |= mMovement.onTouchEvent(this, (Spannable) mText, event);
             }
 
-            // Lazily create the clickable span gesture detector only if it looks like it
-            // might be useful.
-            if (action == MotionEvent.ACTION_DOWN && mClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector == null
-                    && shouldUseClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector()) {
-                ClickableSpan[] links = ((Spannable) mText).getSpans(
-                        getSelectionStart(), getSelectionEnd(),
-                        ClickableSpan.class);
+            final boolean textIsSelectable = isTextSelectable();
+            if (touchIsFinished && mLinksClickable && mAutoLinkMask != 0 && textIsSelectable) {
+                // The LinkMovementMethod which should handle taps on links has not been installed
+                // on non editable text that support text selection.
+                // We reproduce its behavior here to open links for these.
+                ClickableSpan[] links = ((Spannable) mText).getSpans(getSelectionStart(),
+                    getSelectionEnd(), ClickableSpan.class);
+
                 if (links.length > 0) {
-                    mClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector =
-                            createClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector();
+                    links[0].onClick(this);
+                    handled = true;
                 }
             }
 
-            if (mClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector != null) {
-                handled |= mClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector.onTouchEvent(event);
-            }
-
-            if (touchIsFinished && (isTextEditable() || isTextSelectable())) {
+            if (touchIsFinished && (isTextEditable() || textIsSelectable)) {
                 // Show the IME, except when selecting in read-only text.
                 final InputMethodManager imm = InputMethodManager.peekInstance();
                 viewClicked(imm);
@@ -9754,31 +9748,6 @@ public class TextView extends View implements ViewTreeObserver.OnPreDrawListener
         mEditor.onLocaleChanged();
     }
 
-    private GestureDetector createClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector() {
-        return new GestureDetector(mContext,
-                new GestureDetector.SimpleOnGestureListener() {
-                    @Override
-                    public boolean onSingleTapUp(MotionEvent e) {
-                        if (shouldUseClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector()) {
-                            ClickableSpan[] links = ((Spannable) mText).getSpans(
-                                    getSelectionStart(), getSelectionEnd(),
-                                    ClickableSpan.class);
-                            if (links.length > 0) {
-                                links[0].onClick(TextView.this);
-                                return true;
-                            }
-                        }
-                        return false;
-                    }
-                });
-    }
-
-    private boolean shouldUseClickableSpanOnClickGestureDetector() {
-        return mLinksClickable && (mMovement != null) &&
-                (mMovement instanceof LinkMovementMethod
-                        || (mAutoLinkMask != 0 && isTextSelectable()));
-    }
-
     /**
      * This method is used by the ArrowKeyMovementMethod to jump from one word to the other.
      * Made available to achieve a consistent behavior.