diff --git a/src/demo-app/dialog/dialog-demo.ts b/src/demo-app/dialog/dialog-demo.ts
index 87c67b151e18..ffb713e74194 100644
--- a/src/demo-app/dialog/dialog-demo.ts
+++ b/src/demo-app/dialog/dialog-demo.ts
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import {Component, Inject, ViewChild, TemplateRef} from '@angular/core';
 import {DOCUMENT} from '@angular/platform-browser';
-import {MatDialog, MatDialogRef, MAT_DIALOG_DATA} from '@angular/material';
+import {MatDialog, MatDialogRef, MatDialogConfig, MAT_DIALOG_DATA} from '@angular/material';
 
 
 @Component({
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ export class DialogDemo {
   lastAfterClosedResult: string;
   lastBeforeCloseResult: string;
   actionsAlignment: string;
-  config = {
+  config: MatDialogConfig = {
     disableClose: false,
     panelClass: 'custom-overlay-pane-class',
     hasBackdrop: true,
diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog-config.ts b/src/lib/dialog/dialog-config.ts
index f2dc3e0bd500..804705446040 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog-config.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog-config.ts
@@ -23,7 +23,7 @@ export interface DialogPosition {
 /**
  * Configuration for opening a modal dialog with the MatDialog service.
  */
-export class MatDialogConfig {
+export class MatDialogConfig<D = any> {
 
   /**
    * Where the attached component should live in Angular's *logical* component tree.
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ export class MatDialogConfig {
   position?: DialogPosition;
 
   /** Data being injected into the child component. */
-  data?: any = null;
+  data?: D | null = null;
 
   /** Layout direction for the dialog's content. */
   direction?: Direction = 'ltr';
diff --git a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
index 38621ce96286..36df527a8298 100644
--- a/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
+++ b/src/lib/dialog/dialog.ts
@@ -114,8 +114,8 @@ export class MatDialog {
    * @param config Extra configuration options.
    * @returns Reference to the newly-opened dialog.
    */
-  open<T>(componentOrTemplateRef: ComponentType<T> | TemplateRef<T>,
-          config?: MatDialogConfig): MatDialogRef<T> {
+  open<T, D = any>(componentOrTemplateRef: ComponentType<T> | TemplateRef<T>,
+          config?: MatDialogConfig<D>): MatDialogRef<T> {
 
     const inProgressDialog = this.openDialogs.find(dialog => dialog._isAnimating());