diff --git a/src/edt/edt/gsiDeclEdt.cc b/src/edt/edt/gsiDeclEdt.cc
index 7f986821c..ea9b3bcda 100644
--- a/src/edt/edt/gsiDeclEdt.cc
+++ b/src/edt/edt/gsiDeclEdt.cc
@@ -73,6 +73,13 @@ static db::Layout *layout_from_inst_path (const lay::ObjectInstPath *p)
   return cell ? cell->layout () : 0;
 }
 
+static db::Cell *cell_from_inst_path (const lay::ObjectInstPath *p)
+{
+  auto cell_index = p->cell_index_tot ();
+  db::Layout *layout = layout_from_inst_path (p);
+  return layout ? &layout->cell (cell_index) : 0;
+}
+
 static db::DCplxTrans source_dtrans (const lay::ObjectInstPath *p)
 {
   const db::Layout *layout = layout_from_inst_path (p);
@@ -203,6 +210,13 @@ gsi::Class<lay::ObjectInstPath> decl_ObjectInstPath ("lay", "ObjectInstPath",
     "This property is set implicitly by setting the top cell and adding elements to the instantiation path.\n"
     "To obtain the index of the container cell, use \\source.\n"
   ) + 
+  gsi::method_ext ("cell", &cell_from_inst_path,
+    "@brief Gets the cell object that the selection applies to.\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This is a convenience method that returns a \\Cell objeact instead of a cell index (see \\cell_index).\n"
+    "\n"
+    "This method has been introduced in version 0.30.3.\n"
+  ) +
   gsi::method_ext ("layout", &layout_from_inst_path,
     "@brief Gets the Layout object the selected object lives in.\n"
     "\n"
diff --git a/testdata/ruby/edtTest.rb b/testdata/ruby/edtTest.rb
index 1346b1576..eaf4b3238 100644
--- a/testdata/ruby/edtTest.rb
+++ b/testdata/ruby/edtTest.rb
@@ -181,6 +181,8 @@ class EDT_TestClass < TestBase
     assert_equal(sel.size, 1)
     assert_equal(sel[0] == p2, true)
     assert_equal(sel[0].layout.object_id, ly.object_id)
+    assert_equal(sel[0].cell_index, c2.cell_index)
+    assert_equal(sel[0].cell.cell_index, c2.cell_index)
     assert_equal(sel[0].trans.to_s, "r0 *1 10,20")
     assert_equal(sel[0].dtrans.to_s, "r0 *1 0.01,0.02")
     assert_equal(sel[0].source_trans.to_s, "r0 *1 10,20")