diff --git a/doc/latex.rst b/doc/latex.rst
index ebc14765e..d42878e85 100644
--- a/doc/latex.rst
+++ b/doc/latex.rst
@@ -438,6 +438,14 @@ Let us now list some macros from the package file
      the new macros are wrappers of the formerly hard-coded ``\texttt``,
      ``\emph``, ... The default definitions can be found in
      :file:`sphinx.sty`.
+- macros for directional double quotes: pairs of straight double quote ``"``
+  in reST source are converted into LaTeX mark-up
+  ``\sphinxquotedblleft{}`` and ``\sphinxquotedblright{}`` which default to
+  `````\ ````` and ``''`` (i.e. the TeX mark-up for directional double
+  quotes via font ligaturing mechanism.)
+
+  .. versionadded:: 1.5.4
+     Formerly, produced TeX was directly with `````\ ````` and ``''``.
 - paragraph level environments: for each admonition type ``<foo>``, the
   used environment is named ``sphinx<foo>``. They may be ``\renewenvironment``
   'd individually, and must then be defined with one argument (it is the heading
diff --git a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
index 1a006cb40..e3d7ce9b8 100644
--- a/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
+++ b/sphinx/texinputs/sphinx.sty
@@ -1243,6 +1243,10 @@
 \protected\def\sphinxstyleabbreviation   {\textsc}
 \protected\def\sphinxstyleliteralintitle {\sphinxcode}
 
+% LaTeX writer uses macros to hide double quotes from \sphinxcode's \@noligs
+\protected\def\sphinxquotedblleft{``}
+\protected\def\sphinxquotedblright{''}
+
 % stylesheet for highlighting with pygments
 \RequirePackage{sphinxhighlight}
 
diff --git a/sphinx/writers/latex.py b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
index 6e408448d..e6761be51 100644
--- a/sphinx/writers/latex.py
+++ b/sphinx/writers/latex.py
@@ -2209,7 +2209,9 @@ class LaTeXTranslator(nodes.NodeVisitor):
     def visit_Text(self, node):
         text = self.encode(node.astext())
         if not self.no_contractions and not self.in_parsed_literal:
-            text = educate_quotes_latex(text)
+            text = educate_quotes_latex(text,
+                                        dquotes=("\\sphinxquotedblleft{}",
+                                                 "\\sphinxquotedblright{}"))
         self.body.append(text)
 
     def depart_Text(self, node):