diff --git a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/element.py b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/element.py
index 4ac7feb08d..a4de5a79a4 100644
--- a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/element.py
+++ b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/element.py
@@ -336,6 +336,10 @@ def _set_axis_limits(self, axis, view, subplots, ranges):
                     axis.set_zlim(bottom=zmin)
                 if valid_lim(zmax):
                     axis.set_zlim(top=zmax)
+        elif isinstance(self.projection, str) and self.projection == "polar":
+            _, b, _, t = coords
+            l = 0
+            r = 2 * np.pi
         else:
             l, b, r, t = coords
 
diff --git a/holoviews/tests/plotting/matplotlib/test_elementplot.py b/holoviews/tests/plotting/matplotlib/test_elementplot.py
index 8130817f43..cd3f06dfff 100644
--- a/holoviews/tests/plotting/matplotlib/test_elementplot.py
+++ b/holoviews/tests/plotting/matplotlib/test_elementplot.py
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@
 from .test_plot import TestMPLPlot, mpl_renderer
 
 from matplotlib.ticker import FormatStrFormatter, FuncFormatter, PercentFormatter
+from matplotlib.projections import PolarAxes
+
 
 class TestElementPlot(TestMPLPlot):
 
@@ -149,6 +151,14 @@ def test_element_zformatter_instance(self):
         zformatter = zaxis.get_major_formatter()
         self.assertIs(zformatter, formatter)
 
+    def test_element_polar_xlimits(self):
+        theta = np.arange(0, 5.4, 0.1)
+        r = np.ones(len(theta))
+        scatter = Scatter((theta, r), 'theta', 'r').opts(projection='polar')
+        plot = mpl_renderer.get_plot(scatter)
+        ax = plot.handles['axis']
+        self.assertIsInstance(ax, PolarAxes)
+        self.assertEqual(ax.get_xlim(), (0, 2 * np.pi))
 
 
 class TestColorbarPlot(TestMPLPlot):