diff --git a/CHANGES b/CHANGES
index 394d29ac2..110968669 100644
--- a/CHANGES
+++ b/CHANGES
@@ -60,6 +60,7 @@ Features added
   Also don't check anchors starting with ``!``.
 * #2300: enhance autoclass:: to use the docstring of __new__ if __init__ method's is missing
   of empty
+* #1858: Add Sphinx.add_enumerable_node() to add enumerable nodes for numfig feature
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
diff --git a/doc/extdev/appapi.rst b/doc/extdev/appapi.rst
index d16f3a597..a7c9f7e9a 100644
--- a/doc/extdev/appapi.rst
+++ b/doc/extdev/appapi.rst
@@ -125,6 +125,18 @@ package.
    .. versionchanged:: 0.5
       Added the support for keyword arguments giving visit functions.
 
+.. method:: Sphinx.add_enumerable_node(node, figtype, **kwds)
+
+   Register a Docutils node class as a numfig target.  Sphinx treats the node as
+   figure, table or code-block. And then the node is numbered automatically.
+
+   *figtype* should be one of ``figure``, ``table`` or ``code-block``.
+
+   Other keyword arguments are used for node visitor functions. See the
+   :meth:`Sphinx.add_node` for details.
+
+   .. versionadded:: 1.4
+
 .. method:: Sphinx.add_directive(name, func, content, arguments, **options)
             Sphinx.add_directive(name, directiveclass)
 
diff --git a/sphinx/application.py b/sphinx/application.py
index 7f4aaa1bb..9277b89ec 100644
--- a/sphinx/application.py
+++ b/sphinx/application.py
@@ -86,6 +86,7 @@ class Sphinx(object):
         self.builderclasses = BUILTIN_BUILDERS.copy()
         self.builder = None
         self.env = None
+        self.enumerable_nodes = {}
 
         self.srcdir = srcdir
         self.confdir = confdir
@@ -193,6 +194,8 @@ class Sphinx(object):
         self._init_env(freshenv)
         # set up the builder
         self._init_builder(self.buildername)
+        # set up the enumerable nodes
+        self._init_enumerable_nodes()
 
     def _init_i18n(self):
         """Load translated strings from the configured localedirs if enabled in
@@ -264,6 +267,10 @@ class Sphinx(object):
         self.builder = builderclass(self)
         self.emit('builder-inited')
 
+    def _init_enumerable_nodes(self):
+        for node, settings in iteritems(self.enumerable_nodes):
+            self.env.domains['std'].enumerable_nodes[node] = settings
+
     # ---- main "build" method -------------------------------------------------
 
     def build(self, force_all=False, filenames=None):
@@ -601,6 +608,10 @@ class Sphinx(object):
             if depart:
                 setattr(translator, 'depart_'+node.__name__, depart)
 
+    def add_enumerable_node(self, node, figtype, **kwds):
+        self.enumerable_nodes[node] = figtype
+        self.add_node(node, **kwds)
+
     def _directive_helper(self, obj, content=None, arguments=None, **options):
         if isinstance(obj, (types.FunctionType, types.MethodType)):
             obj.content = content
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/conf.py b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/conf.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d433def93
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/conf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+import os
+import sys
+
+sys.path.insert(0, os.path.abspath('.'))
+extensions = ['test_enumerable_node']
+
+master_doc = 'index'
+numfig = True
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/index.rst b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/index.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ea1734aa9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/index.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+========================
+test-add_enumerable_node
+========================
+
+.. toctree::
+   :numbered:
+
+
+First section
+=============
+
+.. _first_figure:
+
+.. figure:: rimg.png
+
+   First figure
+
+.. _first_my_figure:
+
+.. my-figure:: rimg.png
+
+   First my figure
+
+Second section
+==============
+
+.. _second_my_figure:
+
+.. my-figure:: rimg.png
+
+   Second my figure
+
+Reference section
+=================
+
+* first_figure is :numref:`first_figure`
+* first_my_figure is :numref:`first_my_figure`
+* second_my_figure is :numref:`second_my_figure`
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/rimg.png b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/rimg.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..1081dc143
Binary files /dev/null and b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/rimg.png differ
diff --git a/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/test_enumerable_node.py b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/test_enumerable_node.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5b075fa69
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/roots/test-add_enumerable_node/test_enumerable_node.py
@@ -0,0 +1,35 @@
+# -*- coding: utf-8 -*-
+
+from docutils import nodes
+from docutils.parsers.rst import Directive
+from sphinx.util.nodes import split_explicit_title
+
+
+class my_figure(nodes.figure):
+    pass
+
+
+def visit_my_figure(self, node):
+    self.visit_figure(node)
+
+
+def depart_my_figure(self, node):
+    self.depart_figure(node)
+
+
+class MyFigure(Directive):
+    required_arguments = 1
+    has_content = True
+
+    def run(self):
+        figure_node = my_figure()
+        figure_node += nodes.image(uri=self.arguments[0])
+        figure_node += nodes.caption(text=''.join(self.content))
+        return [figure_node]
+
+
+def setup(app):
+    # my-figure
+    app.add_enumerable_node(my_figure, 'figure',
+                            html=(visit_my_figure, depart_my_figure))
+    app.add_directive('my-figure', MyFigure)
diff --git a/tests/test_build_html.py b/tests/test_build_html.py
index 2afeaace6..21ec4bb48 100644
--- a/tests/test_build_html.py
+++ b/tests/test_build_html.py
@@ -941,6 +941,34 @@ def test_numfig_with_secnum_depth(app, status, warning):
             yield check_xpath, etree, fname, xpath, check, be_found
 
 
+@gen_with_app(buildername='html', testroot='add_enumerable_node')
+def test_enumerable_node(app, status, warning):
+    app.builder.build_all()
+
+    expects = {
+        'index.html': [
+            (".//div[@class='figure']/p[@class='caption']/span[@class='caption-number']",
+             "Fig. 1", True),
+            (".//div[@class='figure']/p[@class='caption']/span[@class='caption-number']",
+             "Fig. 2", True),
+            (".//div[@class='figure']/p[@class='caption']/span[@class='caption-number']",
+             "Fig. 3", True),
+            (".//li/a/span", 'Fig. 1', True),
+            (".//li/a/span", 'Fig. 2', True),
+            (".//li/a/span", 'Fig. 3', True),
+        ],
+    }
+
+    for fname, paths in iteritems(expects):
+        parser = NslessParser()
+        parser.entity.update(html_entities.entitydefs)
+        with (app.outdir / fname).open('rb') as fp:
+            etree = ET.parse(fp, parser)
+
+        for xpath, check, be_found in paths:
+            yield check_xpath, etree, fname, xpath, check, be_found
+
+
 @with_app(buildername='html')
 def test_jsmath(app, status, warning):
     app.builder.build_all()