diff --git a/addon/display/placeholder.js b/addon/display/placeholder.js
index 2f8b1f84ae0cf1893991358742cc2a4bebe6e118..65753ebf3f372886738e2e044653b1fa71a7c3a9 100644
--- a/addon/display/placeholder.js
+++ b/addon/display/placeholder.js
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
     clearPlaceholder(cm);
     var elt = cm.state.placeholder = document.createElement("pre");
     elt.style.cssText = "height: 0; overflow: visible";
+    elt.style.direction = cm.getOption("direction");
     elt.className = "CodeMirror-placeholder";
     var placeHolder = cm.getOption("placeholder")
     if (typeof placeHolder == "string") placeHolder = document.createTextNode(placeHolder)