diff --git a/draftlogs/8165_fix.md b/draftlogs/8165_fix.md
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..6d6c1a959bb
--- /dev/null
+++ b/draftlogs/8165_fix.md
@@ -0,0 +1 @@
+- Fix matching axes losing autorange when another group of matching axes has an explicit range [[#8165](https://github.com/plotly/plotly.js/pull/8165)]
diff --git a/src/plots/cartesian/constraints.js b/src/plots/cartesian/constraints.js
index 2dd1e665df1..4db1c589cbc 100644
--- a/src/plots/cartesian/constraints.js
+++ b/src/plots/cartesian/constraints.js
@@ -108,6 +108,15 @@ exports.handleDefaults = function(layoutIn, layoutOut, opts) {
 
     function setAttrVal() {
         val = axOut[attr];
+        if(attr === 'range') {
+            // check the input of the axis the value comes from
+            hasRange = !!(val &&
+                axIn.range &&
+                axIn.range.length === 2 &&
+                axIn.range[0] !== null &&
+                axIn.range[1] !== null
+            );
+        }
         if(attr === 'rangebreaks') {
             hasDayOfWeekBreaks = axOut._hasDayOfWeekBreaks;
         }
@@ -115,6 +124,8 @@ exports.handleDefaults = function(layoutIn, layoutOut, opts) {
 
     for(i = 0; i < matchGroups.length; i++) {
         group = matchGroups[i];
+        // a range set in another match group must not disable autorange here
+        hasRange = false;
 
         // find 'matching' range attrs
         for(var j = 0; j < matchAttrs.length; j++) {
@@ -145,14 +156,6 @@ exports.handleDefaults = function(layoutIn, layoutOut, opts) {
             // special logic for coupling of range and autorange
             // if nobody explicitly specifies autorange, but someone does
             // explicitly specify range, autorange must be disabled.
-            if(attr === 'range' && val &&
-                axIn.range &&
-                axIn.range.length === 2 &&
-                axIn.range[0] !== null &&
-                axIn.range[1] !== null
-            ) {
-                hasRange = true;
-            }
             if(attr === 'autorange' && val === null && hasRange) {
                 val = false;
             }
diff --git a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
index 31dd67c46cb..df953b832ce 100644
--- a/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
+++ b/test/jasmine/tests/axes_test.js
@@ -1187,6 +1187,33 @@ describe('Test axes', function() {
             _assertMatchingAxes(['xaxis4', 'yaxis4'], false, [-1, 3]);
         });
 
+        it('should not disable autorange on a matching group because an earlier group has a range', function() {
+            // shared x and y axes on a 2x2 grid, with a range on the x axes only
+            layoutIn = {
+                xaxis: {range: [0, 100], matches: 'x3'},
+                xaxis2: {range: [0, 100], matches: 'x4'},
+                xaxis3: {range: [0, 100]},
+                xaxis4: {range: [0, 100]},
+                yaxis: {},
+                yaxis2: {matches: 'y'},
+                yaxis3: {},
+                yaxis4: {matches: 'y3'}
+            };
+            layoutOut._subplots.cartesian.push('x2y2', 'x3y3', 'x4y4');
+            layoutOut._subplots.xaxis.push('x2', 'x3', 'x4');
+            layoutOut._subplots.yaxis.push('y2', 'y3', 'y4');
+
+            supplyLayoutDefaults(layoutIn, layoutOut, fullData);
+
+            expect(layoutOut._axisMatchGroups.length).toBe(4);
+            ['xaxis', 'xaxis2', 'xaxis3', 'xaxis4'].forEach(function(n) {
+                expect(layoutOut[n].autorange).toBe(false, n);
+            });
+            ['yaxis', 'yaxis2', 'yaxis3', 'yaxis4'].forEach(function(n) {
+                expect(layoutOut[n].autorange).toBe(true, n);
+            });
+        });
+
         it('should match set axis range value for matching axes even when matching a *missing* axis', function() {
             layoutIn = {
                 // N.B. xaxis is set, but does not correspond to a subplot