diff --git a/src/roboticstoolbox/backends/PyPlot/PyPlot.py b/src/roboticstoolbox/backends/PyPlot/PyPlot.py
index a5d31a92b..f053b88d1 100644
--- a/src/roboticstoolbox/backends/PyPlot/PyPlot.py
+++ b/src/roboticstoolbox/backends/PyPlot/PyPlot.py
@@ -280,13 +280,13 @@ def launch(
         if self.render_mode == "window":
             plt.ion()
             plt.show()
-        else:
-            if self.render_mode == "notebook-inline":
-                plt.ioff()
-            else:
-                plt.ion()
-            if self.render_mode != "notebook-inline":
-                self.fig.canvas.draw()
+        elif self.render_mode == "notebook-widget":
+            plt.ion()
+            self.fig.canvas.draw()
+        # "notebook-inline": the figure was detached from pyplot above and is drawn
+        # by _push_inline_frame(), so interactive mode has no effect on it.  It is
+        # left as the user had it: switching it off here meant that a plain figure
+        # made in a later cell was not displayed with the ipympl backend.
 
         self.sim_time = 0
 
diff --git a/tests/test_render_mode.py b/tests/test_render_mode.py
index b8240137f..b1eb35c70 100644
--- a/tests/test_render_mode.py
+++ b/tests/test_render_mode.py
@@ -230,3 +230,66 @@ def test_ipython_in_a_terminal_is_not_a_notebook_even_if_ipykernel_is_loaded(
     monkeypatch.setitem(sys.modules, "ipykernel", types.ModuleType("ipykernel"))
 
     assert isnotebook() is False
+
+
+# --- interactive mode ----------------------------------------------------------
+# With the ipympl backend a figure made in a later cell is only displayed if Matplotlib's
+# interactive mode is on.  Launching an inline animation used to switch it off and leave
+# it off.  These check the state, not the display, which needs a real notebook frontend.
+
+
+@pytest.fixture
+def interactive_state():
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    was = plt.isinteractive()
+    plt.close("all")
+    yield
+    plt.close("all")
+    plt.ion() if was else plt.ioff()
+
+
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("was_interactive", [True, False])
+def test_an_inline_launch_leaves_interactive_mode_as_it_was(
+    interactive_state, was_interactive
+):
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    plt.ion() if was_interactive else plt.ioff()
+
+    env = PyPlot()
+    env.launch(render_mode="notebook-inline")
+
+    assert plt.isinteractive() is was_interactive
+
+
+def test_an_inline_animation_leaves_interactive_mode_on(interactive_state, monkeypatch):
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    # the inline frames go to IPython's display, which is not wanted here
+    monkeypatch.setattr(
+        pyplot_module, "_ipy_display", lambda frame, display_id=None: None
+    )
+    monkeypatch.setattr(pyplot_module, "_ipy_clear_output", lambda wait=False: None)
+    plt.ion()
+    robot = rtb.models.DH.Puma560()
+    env = PyPlot()
+    env.launch(render_mode="notebook-inline")
+    env.add(robot, q=robot.qn, readonly=True)
+    for q in rtb.jtraj(robot.qz, robot.qn, 4).q:
+        robot.q = q
+        env.step(0.0)
+
+    assert plt.isinteractive() is True
+    # the inline figure is not registered with pyplot, so it cannot be displayed twice
+    assert plt.get_fignums() == []
+
+
+def test_a_widget_launch_still_turns_interactive_mode_on(interactive_state, displayed):
+    import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+
+    plt.ioff()
+    env = PyPlot()
+    env.launch(render_mode="notebook-widget")
+
+    assert plt.isinteractive() is True