Falkirk could have no real complaints about the defeat that dents their own top-six aspirations.
Hibs almost went ahead in the first minute of the game. John Rankin found space on the left - after the referee played a good advantage - but his 25-yard effort cracked off Robert Olejnik's crossbar.
Stand-in Hibs captain Chris Hogg had to be alert to block the home side's first attack. His great last-ditch tackle denied Graham Barrett a clear run on goal.
Falkirk had a great chance to open the scoring on ten minutes. Stephen Bradley should have shot but instead attempted to find Barrett who had strayed offside.
Bradley's decision was to prove costly as the visitors went straight up the other end and opened the scoring.
Dean Shiels and Merouane Zemmama played a clever one-two before finding Colin Nish. He got to the byline and, when his ball across was missed by Steven Fletcher, the unfortunate Jack Ross turned the ball into his own net.
The rest of the half was to prove fairly uneventful. Tam Scobbie and Russell Latapy fired over but neither were anything better than half-chances.
The last chance of the half fell to the visitors with Fletcher dragging his right-foot effort wide from 18 yards.
Hibs went two ahead on 52 minutes largely down to great work from substitute Ross Campbell. The youngster did well to break away from his marker and found Fletcher. His ball inside was hit first time into the bottom corner by Rankin from 20 yards.
Both sides were attempting to play the game on the deck but a combination of good defending and a lack of the killer-touch meant chances were at a premium.
Hibs' best effort to make it 3-0 came in the 65th minute when Ian Murray headed Zemmama's far post corner just wide.
Falkirk had their first decent attempt on target with only six minutes to play but Scott Arfield's effort never really troubled sub keeper Andrew McNeil.
The keeper was involved in the action again near the death as his acrobatic save kept out Barrett's diving header.