diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
index 2783666f1ed4..8fb0f4ad2909 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/figure.py
@@ -2618,7 +2618,7 @@ def tight_layout(self, renderer=None, pad=1.08, h_pad=None, w_pad=None,
 
     def align_xlabels(self, axs=None):
         """
-        Align the ylabels of subplots in the same subplot column if label
+        Align the xlabels of subplots in the same subplot column if label
         alignment is being done automatically (i.e. the label position is
         not manually set).