diff --git a/python/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.sip b/python/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.sip
index c20d888c40e..b9b3629c095 100644
--- a/python/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.sip
+++ b/python/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.sip
@@ -67,6 +67,12 @@ class QgsLayoutView: QGraphicsView
  You don't have to call it manually, QgsLayoutViewTool takes care of it.
 %End
 
+    void scaleSafe( double scale );
+%Docstring
+ Scales the view in a safe way, by limiting the acceptable range
+ of the scale applied. The ``scale`` parameter specifies the zoom factor to scale the view by.
+%End
+
   signals:
 
     void layoutSet( QgsLayout *layout );
diff --git a/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.cpp b/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.cpp
index 99b90117683..776a039bb8b 100644
--- a/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.cpp
@@ -19,8 +19,13 @@
 #include "qgslayout.h"
 #include "qgslayoutviewtool.h"
 #include "qgslayoutviewmouseevent.h"
+#include "qgssettings.h"
+#include "qgsrectangle.h"
 #include <memory>
 
+#define MIN_VIEW_SCALE 0.05
+#define MAX_VIEW_SCALE 1000.0
+
 QgsLayoutView::QgsLayoutView( QWidget *parent )
   : QGraphicsView( parent )
 {
@@ -74,6 +79,14 @@ void QgsLayoutView::unsetTool( QgsLayoutViewTool *tool )
   }
 }
 
+void QgsLayoutView::scaleSafe( double scale )
+{
+  double currentScale = transform().m11();
+  scale *= currentScale;
+  scale = qBound( MIN_VIEW_SCALE, scale, MAX_VIEW_SCALE );
+  setTransform( QTransform::fromScale( scale, scale ) );
+}
+
 void QgsLayoutView::mousePressEvent( QMouseEvent *event )
 {
   if ( mTool )
@@ -134,7 +147,10 @@ void QgsLayoutView::wheelEvent( QWheelEvent *event )
   }
 
   if ( !mTool || !event->isAccepted() )
-    QGraphicsView::wheelEvent( event );
+  {
+    event->accept();
+    wheelZoom( event );
+  }
 }
 
 void QgsLayoutView::keyPressEvent( QKeyEvent *event )
@@ -158,3 +174,53 @@ void QgsLayoutView::keyReleaseEvent( QKeyEvent *event )
   if ( !mTool || !event->isAccepted() )
     QGraphicsView::keyReleaseEvent( event );
 }
+
+void QgsLayoutView::wheelZoom( QWheelEvent *event )
+{
+  //get mouse wheel zoom behavior settings
+  QgsSettings settings;
+  double zoomFactor = settings.value( QStringLiteral( "qgis/zoom_factor" ), 2 ).toDouble();
+
+  // "Normal" mouse have an angle delta of 120, precision mouses provide data faster, in smaller steps
+  zoomFactor = 1.0 + ( zoomFactor - 1.0 ) / 120.0 * qAbs( event->angleDelta().y() );
+
+  if ( event->modifiers() & Qt::ControlModifier )
+  {
+    //holding ctrl while wheel zooming results in a finer zoom
+    zoomFactor = 1.0 + ( zoomFactor - 1.0 ) / 20.0;
+  }
+
+  //calculate zoom scale factor
+  bool zoomIn = event->angleDelta().y() > 0;
+  double scaleFactor = ( zoomIn ? 1 / zoomFactor : zoomFactor );
+
+  //get current visible part of scene
+  QRect viewportRect( 0, 0, viewport()->width(), viewport()->height() );
+  QgsRectangle visibleRect = QgsRectangle( mapToScene( viewportRect ).boundingRect() );
+
+  //transform the mouse pos to scene coordinates
+  QPointF scenePoint = mapToScene( event->pos() );
+
+  //adjust view center
+  QgsPointXY oldCenter( visibleRect.center() );
+  QgsPointXY newCenter( scenePoint.x() + ( ( oldCenter.x() - scenePoint.x() ) * scaleFactor ),
+                        scenePoint.y() + ( ( oldCenter.y() - scenePoint.y() ) * scaleFactor ) );
+  centerOn( newCenter.x(), newCenter.y() );
+
+  //zoom layout
+  if ( zoomIn )
+  {
+    scaleSafe( zoomFactor );
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    scaleSafe( 1 / zoomFactor );
+  }
+
+  //update layout for new zoom
+#if 0 // TODO
+  emit zoomLevelChanged();
+  updateRulers();
+#endif
+  update();
+}
diff --git a/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.h b/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.h
index 79eb076959a..8415e01e1bf 100644
--- a/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.h
+++ b/src/gui/layout/qgslayoutview.h
@@ -85,6 +85,12 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsLayoutView: public QGraphicsView
      */
     void unsetTool( QgsLayoutViewTool *tool );
 
+    /**
+     * Scales the view in a safe way, by limiting the acceptable range
+     * of the scale applied. The \a scale parameter specifies the zoom factor to scale the view by.
+     */
+    void scaleSafe( double scale );
+
   signals:
 
     /**
@@ -111,6 +117,9 @@ class GUI_EXPORT QgsLayoutView: public QGraphicsView
 
   private:
 
+    //! Zoom layout from a mouse wheel event
+    void wheelZoom( QWheelEvent *event );
+
     QPointer< QgsLayoutViewTool > mTool;
 
     friend class TestQgsLayoutView;
diff --git a/tests/src/python/CMakeLists.txt b/tests/src/python/CMakeLists.txt
index f74b1a8486c..df4ab669b36 100755
--- a/tests/src/python/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/tests/src/python/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -73,6 +73,7 @@ ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsJsonUtils test_qgsjsonutils.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLayerTreeMapCanvasBridge test_qgslayertreemapcanvasbridge.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLayerTree test_qgslayertree.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLayoutManager test_qgslayoutmanager.py)
+ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLayoutView test_qgslayoutview.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLineSymbolLayers test_qgslinesymbollayers.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLayerMetadata test_qgslayermetadata.py)
 ADD_PYTHON_TEST(PyQgsLocator test_qgslocator.py)
diff --git a/tests/src/python/test_qgslayoutview.py b/tests/src/python/test_qgslayoutview.py
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..88551db2eaa
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/src/python/test_qgslayoutview.py
@@ -0,0 +1,63 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+"""QGIS Unit tests for QgsLayoutView.
+
+.. note:: This program is free software; you can redistribute it and/or modify
+it under the terms of the GNU General Public License as published by
+the Free Software Foundation; either version 2 of the License, or
+(at your option) any later version.
+"""
+__author__ = 'Nyall Dawson'
+__date__ = '05/07/2017'
+__copyright__ = 'Copyright 2017, The QGIS Project'
+# This will get replaced with a git SHA1 when you do a git archive
+__revision__ = '$Format:%H$'
+
+import qgis  # NOQA
+
+from qgis.gui import QgsLayoutView
+from qgis.PyQt.QtCore import QRectF
+from qgis.PyQt.QtGui import QTransform
+
+from qgis.testing import start_app, unittest
+
+start_app()
+
+
+class TestQgsLayoutView(unittest.TestCase):
+
+    def testScaleSafe(self):
+        """ test scaleSafe method """
+
+        view = QgsLayoutView()
+        view.fitInView(QRectF(0, 0, 10, 10))
+        scale = view.transform().m11()
+        view.scaleSafe(2)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), 2)
+        view.scaleSafe(4)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), 8)
+
+        # try to zoom in heaps
+        view.scaleSafe(99999999)
+        # assume we have hit the limit
+        scale = view.transform().m11()
+        view.scaleSafe(2)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), scale)
+
+        view.setTransform(QTransform.fromScale(1, 1))
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), 1)
+        # test zooming out
+        view.scaleSafe(0.5)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), 0.5)
+        view.scaleSafe(0.1)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), 0.05)
+
+        # try zooming out heaps
+        view.scaleSafe(0.000000001)
+        # assume we have hit the limit
+        scale = view.transform().m11()
+        view.scaleSafe(0.5)
+        self.assertAlmostEqual(view.transform().m11(), scale)
+
+
+if __name__ == '__main__':
+    unittest.main()