diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.cpp b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.cpp
index 4eee045f9..9b68bb1f1 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.cpp
@@ -229,8 +229,9 @@ Rot3 Rot3::slerp(double t, const Rot3& other) const {
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
-double Rot3::angle(const Rot3& other) const {
-  return Rot3::Logmap(this->between(other)).norm() * 180.0 / M_PI;
+pair<Unit3, double> Rot3::axisAngle(const Rot3& other) const {
+  Vector3 rot = Rot3::Logmap(this->between(other));
+  return pair<Unit3, double>(Unit3(rot), rot.norm());
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
index d810285fb..41b5a6ca1 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
@@ -480,10 +480,10 @@ namespace gtsam {
     Rot3 slerp(double t, const Rot3& other) const;
 
     /**
-     * @brief Compute the angle (in degrees) between *this and other
+     * @brief Compute the Euler axis and angle (in radians) between *this and other
      * @param other Rot3 element
      */
-    double angle(const Rot3& other) const;
+    std::pair<Unit3, double> axisAngle(const Rot3& other) const;
 
     /// Output stream operator
     GTSAM_EXPORT friend std::ostream &operator<<(std::ostream &os, const Rot3& p);
diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp b/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
index 84c5bd094..c37dfda35 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
@@ -663,17 +663,17 @@ TEST(Rot3, ClosestTo) {
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
 TEST(Rot3, angle) {
-  Rot3 R1(0.996136,  -0.0564186, -0.0672982, //
-          0.0419472,  0.978941,  -0.199787, //
-          0.0771527,  0.196192,   0.977525);
+  Rot3 R1 = Rot3::Ypr(0, 0, 0);
   
-  Rot3 R2(0.99755,  -0.0377748, -0.0588831, //
-          0.0238455, 0.974883,  -0.221437, //
-          0.0657689, 0.21949,    0.973395);
+  Rot3 R2 = Rot3::Ypr(M_PI/4, 0, 0);
 
-  double expected = 1.7765686464446904;
-
-  EXPECT(assert_equal(expected, R1.angle(R2), 1e-6));
+  Unit3 expectedAxis(0, 0, 1);
+  double expectedAngle = M_PI/4;
+  
+  pair<Unit3, double> actual = R1.axisAngle(R2);
+  
+  EXPECT(assert_equal(expectedAxis, actual.first, 1e-6));
+  EXPECT(assert_equal(expectedAngle, actual.second, 1e-6));
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */