diff --git a/java/res/layout/input_view.xml b/java/res/layout/input_view.xml
index 40eff3839..136e18cd5 100644
--- a/java/res/layout/input_view.xml
+++ b/java/res/layout/input_view.xml
@@ -43,8 +43,11 @@
             android:layout_width="@dimen/suggestions_strip_padding"
             android:layout_height="@dimen/suggestions_strip_height"
             style="?attr/suggestionsStripBackgroundStyle" />
+        <!-- To ensure that key preview popup is correctly placed when the current system locale is
+             one of RTL locales, layoutDirection="ltr" is needed in the SDK version 17+. -->
         <com.android.inputmethod.latin.suggestions.SuggestionStripView
             android:id="@+id/suggestion_strip_view"
+            android:layoutDirection="ltr"
             android:layout_weight="1.0"
             android:layout_width="0dp"
             android:layout_height="@dimen/suggestions_strip_height"
@@ -56,8 +59,11 @@
             style="?attr/suggestionsStripBackgroundStyle" />
     </LinearLayout>
 
+    <!-- To ensure that key preview popup is correctly placed when the current system locale is
+         one of RTL locales, layoutDirection="ltr" is needed in the SDK version 17+. -->
     <com.android.inputmethod.keyboard.MainKeyboardView
         android:id="@+id/keyboard_view"
+        android:layoutDirection="ltr"
         android:layout_alignParentBottom="true"
         android:layout_width="match_parent"
         android:layout_height="wrap_content" />