diff --git a/js/ui/boxpointer.js b/js/ui/boxpointer.js
index 53433245d..8c410201e 100644
--- a/js/ui/boxpointer.js
+++ b/js/ui/boxpointer.js
@@ -533,6 +533,9 @@ export const BoxPointer = GObject.registerClass({
         switch (this._arrowSide) {
         case St.Side.TOP:
         case St.Side.BOTTOM:
+            if (this.text_direction === Clutter.TextDirection.RTL)
+                alignment = 1.0 - alignment;
+
             resX = sourceCenterX - (halfMargin + (natWidth - margin) * alignment);
 
             resX = Math.max(resX, workarea.x + padding);