diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/lines.py b/lib/matplotlib/lines.py
index 18a1d8186a8e..cfa6b4d86081 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/lines.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/lines.py
@@ -479,6 +479,8 @@ def contains(self, mouseevent):
             else:
                 # If line, return the nearby segment(s)
                 ind = segment_hits(mouseevent.x, mouseevent.y, xt, yt, pixels)
+                if self._drawstyle.startswith("steps"):
+                    ind //= 2
 
         ind += self.ind_offset
 
@@ -680,7 +682,8 @@ def recache(self, always=False):
         else:
             interpolation_steps = 1
         xy = STEP_LOOKUP_MAP[self._drawstyle](*self._xy.T)
-        self._path = Path(np.asarray(xy).T, None, interpolation_steps)
+        self._path = Path(np.asarray(xy).T,
+                          _interpolation_steps=interpolation_steps)
         self._transformed_path = None
         self._invalidx = False
         self._invalidy = False
@@ -693,8 +696,9 @@ def _transform_path(self, subslice=None):
         """
         # Masked arrays are now handled by the Path class itself
         if subslice is not None:
-            _steps = self._path._interpolation_steps
-            _path = Path(self._xy[subslice, :], _interpolation_steps=_steps)
+            xy = STEP_LOOKUP_MAP[self._drawstyle](*self._xy[subslice, :].T)
+            _path = Path(np.asarray(xy).T,
+                         _interpolation_steps=self._path._interpolation_steps)
         else:
             _path = self._path
         self._transformed_path = TransformedPath(_path, self.get_transform())
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_lines/drawstyle_variants.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_lines/drawstyle_variants.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..8b6d97b7b407
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_lines/drawstyle_variants.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index 478f58441009..1ecc31b40dc8 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -4460,12 +4460,6 @@ def test_ls_ds_conflict():
                   linestyle='steps-pre:', drawstyle='steps-post')
 
 
-@cleanup
-def test_ls_ds_conflict():
-    assert_raises(ValueError, plt.plot, range(32),
-                  linestyle='steps-pre:', drawstyle='steps-post')
-
-
 @image_comparison(baseline_images=['date_timezone_x'], extensions=['png'])
 def test_date_timezone_x():
     # Tests issue 5575
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_lines.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_lines.py
index 142816cab2b5..0d9151dbd3bb 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_lines.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_lines.py
@@ -118,16 +118,18 @@ def test_valid_linestyles():
         line.set_linestyle('aardvark')
 
 
-@cleanup
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['drawstyle_variants'], remove_text=True,
+                  extensions=["png"])
 def test_drawstyle_variants():
-    fig = plt.figure()
-    ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1)
-    for ds in ("default", "steps-mid", "steps-pre", "steps-post",
-               "steps", None):
-        ax.plot(range(10), drawstyle=ds)
-
-    fig.canvas.draw()
-    assert True
+    fig, axs = plt.subplots(6)
+    dss = ["default", "steps-mid", "steps-pre", "steps-post", "steps", None]
+    # We want to check that drawstyles are properly handled even for very long
+    # lines (for which the subslice optimization is on); however, we need
+    # to zoom in so that the difference between the drawstyles is actually
+    # visible.
+    for ax, ds in zip(axs.flat, dss):
+        ax.plot(range(2000), drawstyle=ds)
+        ax.set(xlim=(0, 2), ylim=(0, 2))
 
 
 @cleanup