diff --git a/src/object/sp-ellipse.cpp b/src/object/sp-ellipse.cpp
index 129a52aaaf7b7fccfc3178323cfc54e9bbae869d..843f88010edb776ab16b43315a624c61567a8d88 100644
--- a/src/object/sp-ellipse.cpp
+++ b/src/object/sp-ellipse.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,6 @@ void SPGenericEllipse::build(SPDocument *document, Inkscape::XML::Node *repr)
 {
     // std::cout << "SPGenericEllipse::build: Entrance: " << this->type
     //           << "  ("  << g_quark_to_string(repr->code()) << ")" << std::endl;
-
     switch ( type ) {
         case SP_GENERIC_ELLIPSE_ARC:
             this->readAttr(SPAttr::SODIPODI_CX);
@@ -209,6 +208,24 @@ void SPGenericEllipse::update(SPCtx *ctx, guint flags)
         this->cy.update(em, ex, dy);
         this->rx.update(em, ex, dr);
         this->ry.update(em, ex, dr);
+        switch ( type ) {
+        case SP_GENERIC_ELLIPSE_CIRCLE:
+            if (this->getAttribute("rx")) {
+                this->setAttribute("r", this->getAttribute("rx"));
+                this->removeAttribute("rx");
+                this->removeAttribute("ry");
+            }
+            break;
+        case SP_GENERIC_ELLIPSE_ELLIPSE:
+            if (this->getAttribute("r")) {
+                this->setAttribute("rx",this->getAttribute("r"));
+                this->setAttribute("ry",this->getAttribute("r"));
+                this->removeAttribute("r");
+            }
+            break;
+        default:
+            break;
+        }
 
         this->set_shape();
     }