 <p><a href="http://stackoverflow.com/a/32454407/2281718">This answer</a> solved this problem for me. Create a custom <code>AppBarLayout.Behavior</code> like this:</p> <pre><code>public final class FlingBehavior extends AppBarLayout.Behavior { private static final int TOP_CHILD_FLING_THRESHOLD = 3; private boolean isPositive; public FlingBehavior() { } public FlingBehavior(Context context, AttributeSet attrs) { super(context, attrs); } @Override public boolean onNestedFling(CoordinatorLayout coordinatorLayout, AppBarLayout child, View target, float velocityX, float velocityY, boolean consumed) { if (velocityY &gt; 0 &amp;&amp; !isPositive || velocityY &lt; 0 &amp;&amp; isPositive) { velocityY = velocityY * -1; } if (target instanceof RecyclerView &amp;&amp; velocityY &lt; 0) { final RecyclerView recyclerView = (RecyclerView) target; final View firstChild = recyclerView.getChildAt(0); final int childAdapterPosition = recyclerView.getChildAdapterPosition(firstChild); consumed = childAdapterPosition &gt; TOP_CHILD_FLING_THRESHOLD; } return super.onNestedFling(coordinatorLayout, child, target, velocityX, velocityY, consumed); } @Override public void onNestedPreScroll(CoordinatorLayout coordinatorLayout, AppBarLayout child, View target, int dx, int dy, int[] consumed) { super.onNestedPreScroll(coordinatorLayout, child, target, dx, dy, consumed); isPositive = dy &gt; 0; } } </code></pre> <p>and add it to the <code>AppBarLayout</code> like this:</p> <pre><code>&lt;android.support.design.widget.AppBarLayout android:layout_width="match_parent" android:layout_height="wrap_content" ... app:layout_behavior="com.example.test.FlingBehavior"&gt; </code></pre>