diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 3d493c92026e..52b1094528fb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -7075,7 +7075,7 @@ def stairs(self, values, edges=None, *,
     @_preprocess_data(replace_names=["x", "y", "weights"])
     @_docstring.dedent_interpd
     def hist2d(self, x, y, bins=10, range=None, density=False, weights=None,
-               cmin=None, cmax=None, **kwargs):
+               cmin=None, cmax=None, adapt_lim=False, **kwargs):
         """
         Make a 2D histogram plot.
 
@@ -7173,9 +7173,30 @@ def hist2d(self, x, y, bins=10, range=None, density=False, weights=None,
         if cmax is not None:
             h[h > cmax] = None
 
+        x_min, x_max = xedges[0], xedges[-1]
+        y_min, y_max = yedges[0], yedges[-1]
+        if adapt_lim is True or isinstance(adapt_lim, str):
+            mask = ~np.isnan(h)
+            mask_flat_x = np.any(mask, axis=1)
+            mask_flat_y = np.any(mask, axis=0)
+
+            if adapt_lim is True or adapt_lim.lower() == 'x':
+                x_min = xedges[:-1][mask_flat_x].min()
+                x_max = xedges[1:][mask_flat_x].max()
+                x_pad = 0.01 * (x_max - x_min)
+                x_min -= x_pad
+                x_max += x_pad
+
+            if adapt_lim is True or adapt_lim.lower() == 'y':
+                y_min = yedges[:-1][mask_flat_y].min()
+                y_max = yedges[1:][mask_flat_y].max()
+                y_pad = 0.01 * (y_max - y_min)
+                y_min -= y_pad
+                y_max += y_pad
+
         pc = self.pcolormesh(xedges, yedges, h.T, **kwargs)
-        self.set_xlim(xedges[0], xedges[-1])
-        self.set_ylim(yedges[0], yedges[-1])
+        self.set_xlim(x_min, x_max)
+        self.set_ylim(y_min, y_max)
 
         return h, xedges, yedges, pc
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
index 4be2c5536105..0c1aff77151e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
@@ -583,6 +583,7 @@ class Axes(_AxesBase):
         weights: ArrayLike | None = ...,
         cmin: float | None = ...,
         cmax: float | None = ...,
+        adapt_lim: bool | str = ...,
         *,
         data=...,
         **kwargs
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 99af494c7880..fa89f6cb2579 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -3180,6 +3180,7 @@ def hist2d(
     weights: ArrayLike | None = None,
     cmin: float | None = None,
     cmax: float | None = None,
+    adapt_lim: bool | str = False,
     *,
     data=None,
     **kwargs,
@@ -3193,6 +3194,7 @@ def hist2d(
         weights=weights,
         cmin=cmin,
         cmax=cmax,
+        adapt_lim=adapt_lim,
         **({"data": data} if data is not None else {}),
         **kwargs,
     )