diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/2018-01-24-AL-subplotspec-add_subplot.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/2018-01-24-AL-subplotspec-add_subplot.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..9a29047453d7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/next_whats_new/2018-01-24-AL-subplotspec-add_subplot.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,8 @@
+GridSpec items can now add subplots to their parent Figure directly
+```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
+
+`SubplotSpec` gained an ``add_subplot`` method, which allows one to write ::
+
+   fig = plt.figure()
+   gs = fig.add_gridspec(2, 2)
+   gs[0, 0].add_subplot()  # instead of `fig.add_subplot(gs[0, 0])`
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/gridspec.py b/lib/matplotlib/gridspec.py
index 883d9166c178..929642c6e5e7 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/gridspec.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/gridspec.py
@@ -371,6 +371,10 @@ def __init__(self, nrows, ncols,
                     name=subspeclb.name + '.gridspec' + layoutbox.seq_id(),
                     artist=self)
 
+    @property
+    def figure(self):
+        return self.get_topmost_subplotspec().gridspec.figure
+
     def get_subplot_params(self, figure=None):
         """Return a dictionary of subplot layout parameters.
         """
@@ -542,3 +546,23 @@ def subgridspec(self, nrows, ncols, **kwargs):
         """
 
         return GridSpecFromSubplotSpec(nrows, ncols, self, **kwargs)
+
+    def add_subplot(self, **kwargs):
+        """
+        Add the subplot specified by *self* to the parent figure.
+
+        Note that the parent `GridSpec` must have its ``.parent`` attribute set
+        for this method to work; otherwise, a ValueError is raised.
+
+        Keyword arguments are forwarded to `Figure.add_subplot`.
+
+        Example
+        -------
+
+            gs = plt.figure().add_gridspec(2, 2)
+            ax = gs[0, 0].add_subplot()
+        """
+        if self._gridspec.figure is None:
+            raise ValueError("add_subplot() only works for GridSpecs created "
+                             "with a parent Figure")
+        return self._gridspec.figure.add_subplot(self, **kwargs)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index c61cf1f3e775..bdb2b08ad664 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -992,9 +992,9 @@ def subplot(*args, **kwargs):
     two subplots that are otherwise identical to be added to the figure,
     make sure you give them unique labels.
 
-    In rare circumstances, `.add_subplot` may be called with a single
-    argument, a subplot axes instance already created in the
-    present figure but not in the figure's list of axes.
+    In rare circumstances, `.subplot` may be called with a single argument, a
+    subplot axes instance already created in the present figure but not in the
+    figure's list of axes.
 
     See Also
     --------
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_tightlayout.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_tightlayout.py
index 5898c1a94aeb..2f0707269609 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_tightlayout.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_tightlayout.py
@@ -107,10 +107,10 @@ def test_tight_layout6():
 
         gs1.tight_layout(fig, rect=[0, 0, 0.5, 1])
 
-        gs2 = gridspec.GridSpec(3, 1)
+        gs2 = fig.add_gridspec(3, 1)
 
         for ss in gs2:
-            ax = fig.add_subplot(ss)
+            ax = ss.add_subplot()
             example_plot(ax)
             ax.set_title("")
             ax.set_xlabel("")