diff --git a/src/material-design-icons.scss b/src/material-design-icons.scss
index 5825d18e9772..9bf9a614a00f 100644
--- a/src/material-design-icons.scss
+++ b/src/material-design-icons.scss
@@ -30,7 +30,9 @@ $material-design-icons-class-icons-prefix: '' !default;
   letter-spacing: normal;
   word-wrap: normal;
   white-space: nowrap;
-  direction: ltr;
+  
+  /* Respect document layout direction */
+  direction: inherit;
 
   /* Support for all WebKit browsers. */
   -webkit-font-smoothing: antialiased;