diff --git a/src/db/db/dbLayout.cc b/src/db/db/dbLayout.cc
index 22c8411a7..31eb1ea41 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbLayout.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/dbLayout.cc
@@ -1560,6 +1560,14 @@ Layout::allocate_new_cell ()
   return new_index;
 }
 
+void
+Layout::refresh ()
+{
+  for (iterator c = begin (); c != end (); ++c) {
+    c->update ();
+  }
+}
+
 void
 Layout::cleanup (const std::set<db::cell_index_type> &keep)
 {
diff --git a/src/db/db/dbLayout.h b/src/db/db/dbLayout.h
index e6318ca5c..69e243b2a 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbLayout.h
+++ b/src/db/db/dbLayout.h
@@ -1632,6 +1632,14 @@ public:
    */
   void cleanup (const std::set<db::cell_index_type> &keep = std::set<db::cell_index_type> ());
 
+  /**
+   *  @brief Calls "update" on all cells of the layout
+   *
+   *  This will update PCells stored inside this layout, but will *not* update
+   *  PCells which are imported from a library.
+   */
+  void refresh ();
+
   /**
    *  @brief Implementation of the undo operations
    */
diff --git a/src/db/db/dbLibrary.cc b/src/db/db/dbLibrary.cc
index 5c012dc52..4fa34f794 100644
--- a/src/db/db/dbLibrary.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/dbLibrary.cc
@@ -148,6 +148,7 @@ Library::is_retired (const db::cell_index_type library_cell_index) const
 void
 Library::refresh ()
 {
+  layout ().refresh ();
   remap_to (this);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbCell.cc b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbCell.cc
index bdb4011e6..b0eaf1704 100644
--- a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbCell.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbCell.cc
@@ -2932,10 +2932,14 @@ Class<db::Cell> decl_Cell ("db", "Cell",
     "This method has been introduced in version 0.22.\n"
   ) +
   gsi::method_ext ("refresh", &refresh,
-    "@brief Refreshes the cell\n"
+    "@brief Refreshes a proxy cell\n"
     "\n"
-    "If the cell is a PCell or a proxy to a PCell in a library, this method recomputes the PCell.\n"
+    "If the cell is a PCell variant, this method recomputes the PCell.\n"
     "If the cell is a library proxy, this method reloads the information from the library, but not the library itself.\n"
+    "Note that if the cell is an PCell variant for a PCell coming from a library, this method will not recompute the PCell. "
+    "Instead, you can use \\Library#refresh to recompute all PCells from that library.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "You can use \\Layout#refresh to refresh all cells from a layout.\n"
     "\n"
     "This method has been introduced in version 0.22.\n"
   ) +
diff --git a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayout.cc b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayout.cc
index 4935a928a..68e1f7802 100644
--- a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayout.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLayout.cc
@@ -1089,6 +1089,14 @@ Class<db::Layout> decl_Layout ("db", "Layout",
     "@brief Gets the library this layout lives in or nil if the layout is not part of a library\n"
     "This attribute has been introduced in version 0.27.5."
   ) +
+  gsi::method ("refresh", &db::Layout::refresh,
+    "@brief Calls \\Cell#refresh on all cells inside this layout\n"
+    "This method is useful to recompute all PCells from a layout. Note that this does not "
+    "update PCells which are linked from a library. To recompute PCells from a library, you need "
+    "to use \\Library#refresh on the library object from which the PCells are imported.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This method has been introduced in version 0.27.9."
+  ) +
   gsi::method ("add_meta_info", &db::Layout::add_meta_info, gsi::arg ("info"),
     "@brief Adds meta information to the layout\n"
     "See \\LayoutMetaInfo for details about layouts and meta information."
diff --git a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLibrary.cc b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLibrary.cc
index 6b3c64c19..d6537599f 100644
--- a/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLibrary.cc
+++ b/src/db/db/gsiDeclDbLibrary.cc
@@ -237,6 +237,7 @@ LibraryClass decl_Library ("db", "Library",
   gsi::method ("refresh", &db::Library::refresh,
     "@brief Updates all layouts using this library.\n"
     "This method will retire cells or update layouts in the attached clients.\n"
+    "It will also recompute the PCells inside the library. "
     "\n"
     "This method has been introduced in version 0.27.8."
   ),