diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index cdac7df02039..b63394713ce5 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -963,7 +963,7 @@ def cla(self):
         self.patch.set_linewidth(0)
         self.patch.set_transform(self.transAxes)
 
-        self.axison = True
+        self.set_axis_on()
 
         self.xaxis.set_clip_path(self.patch)
         self.yaxis.set_clip_path(self.patch)
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_mplot3d/axes3d_cla.png b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_mplot3d/axes3d_cla.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..6bea96258174
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_mplot3d/axes3d_cla.png differ
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
index c3995c66dbb8..b694fcc7720a 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_mplot3d.py
@@ -257,6 +257,15 @@ def test_axes3d_labelpad():
         tick.set_pad(tick.get_pad() - i * 5)
 
 
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['axes3d_cla'], extensions=['png'])
+def test_axes3d_cla():
+    # fixed in pull request 4553
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(1,1,1, projection='3d')
+    ax.set_axis_off()
+    ax.cla()  # make sure the axis displayed is 3D (not 2D)
+
+
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     import nose
     nose.runmodule(argv=['-s', '--with-doctest'], exit=False)