<ion-searchbar> keeps focus while scrolling

I’m running Ionic 2 and I’m using the directive for a searchbar. I tap on it and start typing stuff in and it remains focused. However, if I scroll, or press enter, it still remains focused.

Is this a glitch or is it designed this way? How can I remove focus when the user starts scrolling through the results?

ion-searchbar's implementation seems to lack an API to directly trigger “blur” from app code, only event handler, there is a @ViewChild('searchbarInput') but it’s private. That said you may have to reach into the component’s DOM, acquire a reference to the input field and call .blur() against it.