diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.kt b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.kt
index d77de62cde..877e87b063 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.kt
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/ui/PagerActivity.kt
@@ -455,10 +455,6 @@ class PagerActivity : AppCompatActivity(), AudioBarListener, OnBookmarkTagsUpdat
     }
 
     val toolbar = findViewById<Toolbar>(R.id.toolbar)
-    if (quranSettings.isArabicNames || QuranUtils.isRtl()) {
-      // remove when we remove LTR from quran_page_activity's root
-      ViewCompat.setLayoutDirection(toolbar, ViewCompat.LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL)
-    }
     setSupportActionBar(toolbar)
 
     supportActionBar?.setDisplayShowHomeEnabled(true)
diff --git a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/view/SlidingUpPanelLayout.java b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/view/SlidingUpPanelLayout.java
index 8498110ec3..89d4bccae2 100644
--- a/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/view/SlidingUpPanelLayout.java
+++ b/app/src/main/java/com/quran/labs/androidquran/view/SlidingUpPanelLayout.java
@@ -43,10 +43,6 @@
 import android.os.Build;
 import android.os.Parcel;
 import android.os.Parcelable;
-import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat;
-import androidx.core.view.MotionEventCompat;
-import androidx.core.view.ViewCompat;
-import androidx.customview.widget.ViewDragHelper;
 import android.util.AttributeSet;
 import android.view.Gravity;
 import android.view.MotionEvent;
@@ -56,9 +52,12 @@
 import android.view.ViewGroup;
 import android.view.accessibility.AccessibilityEvent;
 
-import com.quran.labs.androidquran.R;
+import androidx.core.content.ContextCompat;
+import androidx.core.view.MotionEventCompat;
+import androidx.core.view.ViewCompat;
+import androidx.customview.widget.ViewDragHelper;
 
-import timber.log.Timber;
+import com.quran.labs.androidquran.R;
 
 public class SlidingUpPanelLayout extends ViewGroup {
 
@@ -591,7 +590,7 @@ protected void onMeasure(int widthMeasureSpec, int heightMeasureSpec) {
     final int childCount = getChildCount();
 
     if (childCount > 2) {
-      Timber.e("onMeasure: More than two child views are not supported.");
+      // Timber.e("onMeasure: More than two child views are not supported.");
     } else if (getChildAt(1).getVisibility() == GONE) {
       panelHeight = 0;
     }
diff --git a/app/src/main/res/layout/quran_page_activity.xml b/app/src/main/res/layout/quran_page_activity.xml
index 9a5f3c6bc1..0607010200 100644
--- a/app/src/main/res/layout/quran_page_activity.xml
+++ b/app/src/main/res/layout/quran_page_activity.xml
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@
     android:layout_width="match_parent"
     android:layout_height="match_parent"
     android:keepScreenOn="true"
-    android:layoutDirection="ltr"
     >
 
   <androidx.viewpager.widget.NonRestoringViewPager
diff --git a/common/toolbar/src/main/java/com/quran/page/common/toolbar/AyahToolBar.kt b/common/toolbar/src/main/java/com/quran/page/common/toolbar/AyahToolBar.kt
index 3c60d9aa03..412b64d9e4 100644
--- a/common/toolbar/src/main/java/com/quran/page/common/toolbar/AyahToolBar.kt
+++ b/common/toolbar/src/main/java/com/quran/page/common/toolbar/AyahToolBar.kt
@@ -47,6 +47,7 @@ class AyahToolBar @JvmOverloads constructor(
   var flavor: String = ""
   var longPressLambda: ((CharSequence) -> Unit) = {}
   var isRecitationEnabled = false
+  var lastMeasuredWidth = 0
 
   @Inject
   lateinit var ayahToolBarPresenter: AyahToolBarPresenter
@@ -112,6 +113,15 @@ class AyahToolBar @JvmOverloads constructor(
       toolBarPip.layout(pipLeft, menuHeight - 1, pipLeft + pipWidth, menuHeight + pipHeight)
       menuLayout.layout(0, 0, menuWidth, menuHeight)
     }
+
+    // handle first layout of toolbar
+    if (lastMeasuredWidth != totalWidth && lastMeasuredWidth == 0) {
+      // whenever we're RTL, we need to adjust the translationX
+      if (layoutDirection == LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL) {
+        translationX = translationX - totalWidth
+      }
+      lastMeasuredWidth = totalWidth
+    }
   }
 
   override fun onMeasure(widthMeasureSpec: Int, heightMeasureSpec: Int) {
@@ -213,7 +223,21 @@ class AyahToolBar @JvmOverloads constructor(
       pipOffset = internalPosition.pipOffset
       val x = internalPosition.x
       val y = internalPosition.y
-      setPosition(x, y)
+
+      // hack to help fix RTL when measuredWidth is not yet set. if this is set,
+      // we adjust the translationX _after_ onLayout
+      lastMeasuredWidth = measuredWidth
+      val actualX = if (layoutDirection == LAYOUT_DIRECTION_RTL) {
+        // in RTL, x=0 is on the very right of the screen. translationX is still to the
+        // right, however (i.e. translationX of 100 is 100 off the screen to the right).
+        // consequently, we need to subtract the width of the view to get the actual x,
+        // which is some negative value between -measuredWidth and 0 to properly render
+        // when RTL.
+        x - measuredWidth
+      } else {
+        x
+      }
+      setPosition(actualX, y)
       if (needsLayout) {
         requestLayout()
       }