diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -51,6 +51,23 @@ def test_formatter_ticker():
     ax.set_xlabel( "x-label 005" )
     ax.autoscale_view()
 
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['locator_linear_minor'])
+def test_locator_ticker():
+  from matplotlib.ticker import LinearMinorLocator
+
+  xdata = np.arange(10)
+  ydata = np.sin(xdata/10.)
+
+  xlocator = LinearMinorLocator(4)
+  ylocator = LinearMinorLocator(2)
+
+  fig = plt.figure()
+  ax = plt.subplot(111)
+  ax.plot(xdata,ydata)
+  ax.xaxis.set_minor_locator(xlocator)
+  ax.yaxis.set_minor_locator(ylocator)
+  ax.grid(which='minor', linestyle='-')
+
 @image_comparison(baseline_images=['offset_points'])
 def test_basic_annotate():
     # Setup some data

diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py b/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
@@ -50,6 +50,13 @@
     :class:`MaxNLocator` with simple defaults. This is the default
     tick locator for most plotting.
 
+:class:`AutoMinorLocator`
+    Dynamically find minor tick positions based on the positions of
+    major ticks. 
+
+:class:`LinearMinorLocator`
+    Set a fixed number of minor ticks between each major tick.
+
 There are a number of locators specialized for date locations - see
 the dates module
 
@@ -1432,6 +1439,40 @@ def __call__(self):
 
         return self.raise_if_exceeds(np.array(locs))
 
+class LinearMinorLocator(Locator):
+    """
+    Set fixed number of minor ticks between each major tick.
+    Assumes the scale is linear and major ticks are evenly spaced.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, numticks):
+        "'numticks' is the number of minor ticks between each major tick."
+        self.numticks = numticks
+
+    def __call__(self):
+        'Return the locations of the ticks'
+        majorlocs = self.axis.get_majorticklocs()
+        try:
+            majorstep = majorlocs[1] - majorlocs[0]
+        except IndexError:
+            raise ValueError('Need at least two major ticks to find minor '
+                             'tick locations')
+
+        # divide the major step into numticks+1 intervals
+        minorstep = majorstep / (self.numticks + 1)
+
+        tmin = majorlocs[0] - majorstep
+        tmax = majorlocs[-1] + majorstep
+        locs = np.arange(tmin, tmax, minorstep)
+        vmin, vmax = self.axis.get_view_interval()
+        if vmin > vmax:
+            vmin,vmax = vmax,vmin
+        locs = locs[(vmin < locs) & (locs < vmax)]
+
+        # don't create minor ticks on top of existing major ticks
+        diff = 0.5 * abs(locs[1] - locs[0])
+        locs = [l for l in locs if (np.abs(l - majorlocs) > diff).all()]
+
+        return self.raise_if_exceeds(np.array(locs))
 
 class OldAutoLocator(Locator):
     """
@@ -1495,4 +1536,4 @@ def get_locator(self, d):
            'LogFormatterMathtext', 'Locator', 'IndexLocator',
            'FixedLocator', 'NullLocator', 'LinearLocator',
            'LogLocator', 'AutoLocator', 'MultipleLocator',
-           'MaxNLocator', )
+           'MaxNLocator', 'AutoMinorLocator', 'LinearMinorLocator', )