diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
index cfd66e8944b6..5fe88350d800 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
@@ -260,8 +260,8 @@ def draw(self, renderer):
         lxyz = 0.5 * (edgep1 + edgep2)
 
         # A rough estimate; points are ambiguous since 3D plots rotate
-        ax_scale = self.axes.bbox.size / self.figure.bbox.size
-        ax_inches = np.multiply(ax_scale, self.figure.get_size_inches())
+        reltoinches = self.figure.dpi_scale_trans.inverted()
+        ax_inches = reltoinches.transform(self.axes.bbox.size)
         ax_points_estimate = sum(72. * ax_inches)
         deltas_per_point = 48 / ax_points_estimate
         default_offset = 21.
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
index 3bf3d3be5b0d..60436bd6bb93 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
@@ -1324,3 +1324,11 @@ def test_scalarmap_update(fig_test, fig_ref):
     # ref
     ax_ref = fig_ref.add_subplot(111, projection='3d')
     sc_ref = ax_ref.scatter(x, y, z, c=c, s=40, cmap='viridis')
+
+
+def test_subfigure_simple():
+    # smoketest that subfigures can work...
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    sf = fig.subfigures(1, 2)
+    ax = sf[0].add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='3d')
+    ax = sf[1].add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection='3d', label='other')