diff --git a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Plot.h b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Plot.h
index 69b3d0a9be5f..7d4e57bfa9dd 100644
--- a/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Plot.h
+++ b/Code/Mantid/MantidPlot/src/Plot.h
@@ -101,6 +101,8 @@ class Plot: public QwtPlot
 	void updateLayout();
 
     void updateCurveLabels();
+  // pass through method that is public on the base class in later qwt versions
+  void updateAxes() { QwtPlot::updateAxes(); }
 
   void reverseCurveOrder(); // Created in connection with waterfall plots. Called from Graph method of same name.