diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/abstract/layouts.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/abstract/layouts.rb
index f56b9dd914..eb3b73289d 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/abstract/layouts.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/abstract/layouts.rb
@@ -57,6 +57,9 @@ module AbstractController
   
     def _layout() end # This will be overwritten
     
+    # :api: plugin
+    # ====
+    # Override this to mutate the inbound layout name
     def _layout_for_name(name)
       unless [String, FalseClass, NilClass].include?(name.class)
         raise ArgumentError, "String, false, or nil expected; you passed #{name.inspect}"
diff --git a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/compatibility.rb b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/compatibility.rb
index 8682493c8e..275a18abfd 100644
--- a/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/compatibility.rb
+++ b/actionpack/lib/action_controller/new_base/compatibility.rb
@@ -8,5 +8,10 @@ module ActionController
       super
     end
    
+   def _layout_for_name(name)
+     name &&= name.sub(%r{^/?layouts/}, '')
+     super
+   end
+   
   end
 end
\ No newline at end of file