diff --git a/src/Paragraph.cpp b/src/Paragraph.cpp
index 389e29267c..55df8b4520 100644
--- a/src/Paragraph.cpp
+++ b/src/Paragraph.cpp
@@ -1068,6 +1068,7 @@ void Paragraph::Private::latexInset(BufferParams const & bparams,
 	odocstream::pos_type const len = os.os().tellp();
 
 	if (inset->forceLTR()
+	    && !runparams.use_polyglossia
 	    && running_font.isRightToLeft()
 	    // ERT is an exception, it should be output with no
 	    // decorations at all
diff --git a/src/insets/InsetTabular.cpp b/src/insets/InsetTabular.cpp
index 1e91d5cb88..768b8cffe8 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetTabular.cpp
+++ b/src/insets/InsetTabular.cpp
@@ -2518,7 +2518,8 @@ void Tabular::TeXRow(otexstream & os, row_type row,
 		Paragraph const & par = inset->paragraphs().front();
 		bool rtl = par.isRTL(buffer().params())
 			&& !par.empty()
-			&& getPWidth(cell).zero();
+			&& getPWidth(cell).zero()
+			&& !runparams.use_polyglossia;
 
 		if (rtl) {
 			string const lang =
diff --git a/status.20x b/status.20x
index c7205663ab..65a6e572fb 100644
--- a/status.20x
+++ b/status.20x
@@ -88,11 +88,14 @@ What's new
 
 - Write correct DTD for MathML (bug #8160).
 
-- Make the ~ char in Basque, Estonian and Galician non-active (bug #8265).
+- Make the ~ char in Basque, Estonian and Galician non-active (bug 8265).
 
 - Embrace babel settings to \makeatletter ... \makeatother if they contain
   an @ glyph.
 
+- Fix LaTeX errors with right-to-left text when using XeTeX/Polyglossia
+  (part of bug 8251).
+
 
 * USER INTERFACE