diff --git a/src/_igraph/graphobject.c b/src/_igraph/graphobject.c
index bacd006d6..6393de1c1 100644
--- a/src/_igraph/graphobject.c
+++ b/src/_igraph/graphobject.c
@@ -8188,14 +8188,15 @@ PyObject *igraphmodule_Graph_layout_kamada_kawai(igraphmodule_GraphObject *
     return NULL;
   }
 
-  if (dim == 2)
+  if (dim == 2) {
     ret = igraph_layout_kamada_kawai
       (&self->g, &m, use_seed, maxiter, epsilon, kkconst,
        weights, /*bounds*/ minx, maxx, miny, maxy);
-  else
+    } else {
     ret = igraph_layout_kamada_kawai_3d
       (&self->g, &m, use_seed, maxiter, epsilon, kkconst,
        weights, /*bounds*/ minx, maxx, miny, maxy, minz, maxz);
+  }
 
   DESTROY_VECTORS;
 
@@ -8207,6 +8208,19 @@ PyObject *igraphmodule_Graph_layout_kamada_kawai(igraphmodule_GraphObject *
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  /* Align layout, but only if no bounding box was specified. */
+  if (minx == NULL && maxx == NULL &&
+      miny == NULL && maxy == NULL &&
+      minz == NULL && maxz == NULL &&
+      igraph_vcount(&self->g) <= 1000) {
+    ret = igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m);
+    if (ret) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
   igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
   return (PyObject *) result_o;
@@ -8298,6 +8312,16 @@ PyObject* igraphmodule_Graph_layout_davidson_harel(igraphmodule_GraphObject *sel
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  /* Align layout */
+  if (igraph_vcount(&self->g)) {
+    retval = igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m);
+    if (retval) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
   igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
   return (PyObject *) result_o;
@@ -8520,6 +8544,19 @@ PyObject
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  /* Align layout, but only if no bounding box was specified. */
+  if (minx == NULL && maxx == NULL &&
+      miny == NULL && maxy == NULL &&
+      minz == NULL && maxz == NULL &&
+      igraph_vcount(&self->g) <= 1000) {
+    ret = igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m);
+    if (ret) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
 #undef DESTROY_VECTORS
 
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
@@ -8574,6 +8611,15 @@ PyObject *igraphmodule_Graph_layout_graphopt(igraphmodule_GraphObject *self,
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  /* Align layout */
+  if (igraph_vcount(&self->g) <= 1000) {
+    if (igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m)) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
   igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
   return (PyObject *) result_o;
@@ -8632,6 +8678,15 @@ PyObject *igraphmodule_Graph_layout_lgl(igraphmodule_GraphObject * self,
     return NULL;
   }
 
+  /* Align layout */
+  if (igraph_vcount(&self->g) <= 1000) {
+    if (igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m)) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
   igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
   return (PyObject *) result_o;
@@ -8697,6 +8752,15 @@ PyObject *igraphmodule_Graph_layout_mds(igraphmodule_GraphObject * self,
     igraph_matrix_destroy(dist); free(dist);
   }
 
+  /* Align layout */
+  if (igraph_vcount(&self->g) <= 1000) {
+    if (igraph_layout_align(&self->g, &m)) {
+      igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
+      igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+      return NULL;
+    }
+  }
+
   result_o = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&m, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
   igraph_matrix_destroy(&m);
   return (PyObject *) result_o;
diff --git a/src/_igraph/igraphmodule.c b/src/_igraph/igraphmodule.c
index 4bac0f081..0af15fed4 100644
--- a/src/_igraph/igraphmodule.c
+++ b/src/_igraph/igraphmodule.c
@@ -227,6 +227,38 @@ PyObject* igraphmodule_set_status_handler(PyObject* self, PyObject* o) {
   Py_RETURN_NONE;
 }
 
+PyObject* igraphmodule_align_layout(PyObject* self, PyObject* args, PyObject* kwds) {
+  static char* kwlist[] = {"graph", "layout", NULL};
+  PyObject *graph_o, *layout_o;
+  PyObject *res;
+  igraph_t *graph;
+  igraph_matrix_t layout;
+
+  if (!PyArg_ParseTupleAndKeywords(args, kwds, "OO", kwlist, &graph_o, &layout_o)) {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  if (igraphmodule_PyObject_to_igraph_t(graph_o, &graph)) {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  if (igraphmodule_PyObject_to_matrix_t(layout_o, &layout, "layout")) {
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  if (igraph_layout_align(graph, &layout)) {
+    igraphmodule_handle_igraph_error();
+    igraph_matrix_destroy(&layout);
+    return NULL;
+  }
+
+  res = igraphmodule_matrix_t_to_PyList(&layout, IGRAPHMODULE_TYPE_FLOAT);
+
+  igraph_matrix_destroy(&layout);
+
+  return res;
+}
+
 PyObject* igraphmodule_convex_hull(PyObject* self, PyObject* args, PyObject* kwds) {
   static char* kwlist[] = {"vs", "coords", NULL};
   PyObject *vs, *o, *o1 = 0, *o2 = 0, *o1_float, *o2_float, *coords = Py_False;
@@ -790,6 +822,10 @@ static PyMethodDef igraphmodule_methods[] =
     METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS,
     "_power_law_fit(data, xmin=-1, force_continuous=False, p_precision=0.01)\n--\n\n"
   },
+  {"_align_layout", (PyCFunction)igraphmodule_align_layout,
+    METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS,
+    "_align_layout(graph, layout)\n--\n\n"
+  },
   {"convex_hull", (PyCFunction)igraphmodule_convex_hull,
     METH_VARARGS | METH_KEYWORDS,
     "convex_hull(vs, coords=False)\n--\n\n"
diff --git a/src/igraph/__init__.py b/src/igraph/__init__.py
index 16f41d6ed..65399e8ed 100644
--- a/src/igraph/__init__.py
+++ b/src/igraph/__init__.py
@@ -227,6 +227,7 @@
 from igraph.io.images import _write_graph_to_svg
 from igraph.layout import (
     Layout,
+    align_layout,
     _layout,
     _layout_auto,
     _layout_sugiyama,
diff --git a/src/igraph/layout.py b/src/igraph/layout.py
index f5b0a9181..712323f7a 100644
--- a/src/igraph/layout.py
+++ b/src/igraph/layout.py
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 __all__ = (
     "Layout",
+    "align_layout",
     "_layout",
     "_layout_auto",
     "_layout_sugiyama",
@@ -534,6 +535,27 @@ def _layout(graph, layout=None, *args, **kwds):
     return layout
 
 
+def align_layout(graph, layout):
+    """Aligns a graph layout with the coordinate axes
+
+    This function centers a vertex layout on the coordinate system origin and
+    rotates the layout to achieve a visually pleasing alignment with the coordinate
+    axes. Doing this is particularly useful with force-directed layouts such as
+    L{Graph.layout_fruchterman_reingold}. Layouts in arbitrary dimensional spaces
+    are supported.
+
+    @param graph: the graph that the layout is associated with.
+    @param layout: the L{Layout} object containing the vertex coordinates
+      to align.
+    @return: a new aligned L{Layout} object.
+    """
+    from igraph._igraph import _align_layout
+
+    if not isinstance(layout, Layout):
+        layout = Layout(layout)
+
+    return Layout(_align_layout(graph, layout.coords))
+
 def _layout_auto(graph, *args, **kwds):
     """Chooses and runs a suitable layout function based on simple
     topological properties of the graph.
diff --git a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/clustering_directed.png b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/clustering_directed.png
index 712f1b95f..282f3fb21 100644
Binary files a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/clustering_directed.png and b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/clustering_directed.png differ
diff --git a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_basic.png b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_basic.png
index 2eee93d86..cfd394e49 100644
Binary files a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_basic.png and b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_basic.png differ
diff --git a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_directed.png b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_directed.png
index 83d6e3764..b94e82169 100644
Binary files a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_directed.png and b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_directed.png differ
diff --git a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_directed.png b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_directed.png
index 83d6e3764..b94e82169 100644
Binary files a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_directed.png and b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_directed.png differ
diff --git a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_squares_directed.png b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_squares_directed.png
index c5372745c..0e437f288 100644
Binary files a/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_squares_directed.png and b/tests/drawing/cairo/baseline_images/graph_mark_groups_squares_directed.png differ
diff --git a/tests/test_layouts.py b/tests/test_layouts.py
index ac32e0210..67dad6ca9 100644
--- a/tests/test_layouts.py
+++ b/tests/test_layouts.py
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 import unittest
 from math import hypot
-from igraph import Graph, Layout, BoundingBox, InternalError
+from igraph import Graph, Layout, BoundingBox, InternalError, align_layout
 from igraph import umap_compute_weights
 
 
@@ -452,6 +452,13 @@ def testDRL(self):
         lo = g.layout("drl")
         self.assertTrue(isinstance(lo, Layout))
 
+    def testAlign(self):
+        g = Graph.Ring(3, circular=False)
+        lo = Layout([[1,1], [2,2], [3,3]])
+        lo = align_layout(g, lo)
+        self.assertTrue(isinstance(lo, Layout))
+        self.assertTrue(all(abs(lo[i][1]) < 1e-10 for i in range(3)))
+
 
 def suite():
     layout_suite = unittest.defaultTestLoader.loadTestsFromTestCase(LayoutTests)