diff --git a/Project.toml b/Project.toml
index 988e5ec32..f62fe3d8c 100644
--- a/Project.toml
+++ b/Project.toml
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 name = "ChainRules"
 uuid = "082447d4-558c-5d27-93f4-14fc19e9eca2"
-version = "0.7.48"
+version = "0.7.49"
 
 [deps]
 ChainRulesCore = "d360d2e6-b24c-11e9-a2a3-2a2ae2dbcce4"
diff --git a/src/ChainRules.jl b/src/ChainRules.jl
index a631e5845..a8684c8a6 100644
--- a/src/ChainRules.jl
+++ b/src/ChainRules.jl
@@ -44,6 +44,7 @@ include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/utils.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/blas.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/dense.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/norm.jl")
+include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/structured.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl")
 include("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/factorization.jl")
diff --git a/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl b/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2b909ac89
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,323 @@
+# matrix functions of dense matrices
+# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matrix_function
+
+# NOTE: for a matrix function f, the pushforward and pullback can be computed using the
+# Fréchet derivative and its adjoint, respectively.
+# https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fréchet_derivative
+
+# The pushforwards and pullbacks are related by matrix adjoints. If the pushforward of f(A)
+# at A is (f_*)_A(ΔA), then the pullback at A is (f^*)_A(ΔY) = ((f_*)_A(ΔY'))'.
+# If f has a power series representation with real coefficients, then this simplifies to
+# (f^*)_Y(ΔY) = (f_*)_{A'}(ΔY)
+# So we reuse the code from the pushforward to implement the pullback.
+
+#####
+##### interface function definitions
+#####
+
+"""
+    _matfun(f, A) -> (Y, intermediates)
+
+Compute the matrix function `Y=f(A)` for matrix `A`.
+The function returns a tuple containing the result and a tuple of intermediates to be
+reused by [`_matfun_frechet`](@ref) to compute the Fréchet derivative.
+"""
+_matfun
+
+"""
+    _matfun!(f, A) -> (Y, intermediates)
+
+Similar to [`_matfun`](@ref), but where `A` may be overwritten.
+"""
+_matfun!
+
+"""
+    _matfun_frechet(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+
+Compute the Fréchet derivative of the matrix function ``Y = f(A)`` at ``A`` in the direction
+of ``E``, where `intermediates` is the second argument returned by [`_matfun`](@ref).
+
+The Fréchet derivative is the unique linear map ``L_f \\colon E → L_f(A, E)``, such that
+```math
+L_f(A, E) = f(A + E) - f(A) + o(\\lVert E \\rVert).
+```
+
+[^Higham08]:
+    > Higham, Nicholas J. Chapter 3: Conditioning. Functions of Matrices. 2008, 55-70.
+    > doi: 10.1137/1.9780898717778.ch3
+"""
+_matfun_frechet
+
+"""
+    _matfun_frechet!(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+
+Similar to [`_matfun_frechet`](@ref), but where `E` may be overwritten.
+"""
+_matfun_frechet!
+
+"""
+    _matfun_frechet_adjoint(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+
+Compute the adjoint of the Fréchet derivative of the matrix function ``Y = f(A)`` at ``A``
+in the direction of ``E``, where `intermediates` is the second argument returned by
+[`_matfun`](@ref).
+
+Given the Fréchet ``L_f(A, E)`` computed by [`_matfun_frechet`](@ref), then its adjoint
+``L_f^⋆(A, E)`` is defined by the identity
+```math
+\\langle B, L_f(A, C) \\rangle = \\langle L_f^⋆(A, B), C \\rangle.
+```
+This identity is satisfied by ``L_f^⋆(A, E) = L_f(A, E')'``.
+
+[^Higham08]:
+    > Higham, Nicholas J. Chapter 3: Conditioning. Functions of Matrices. 2008, 55-70.
+    > doi: 10.1137/1.9780898717778.ch3
+"""
+function _matfun_frechet_adjoint(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+    E′ = E'
+    # avoid passing an Adjoint to _matfun_frechet in case it can't handle it
+    E′ = E′ isa Adjoint ? copy(E′) : E′
+    LE = adjoint(_matfun_frechet(f, E′, A, Y, intermediates))
+    # avoid returning an Adjoint
+    return LE isa Adjoint ? copy(LE) : LE
+end
+
+"""
+    _matfun_frechet_adjoint!(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+
+Similar to [`_matfun_frechet_adjoint`](@ref), but where `E` may be overwritten.
+"""
+function _matfun_frechet_adjoint!(f, E, A, Y, intermediates)
+    E′ = E'
+    # avoid passing an Adjoint to _matfun_frechet in case it can't handle it
+    E′ = E′ isa Adjoint ? copy(E′) : E′
+    LE = adjoint(_matfun_frechet!(f, E′, A, Y, intermediates))
+    # avoid returning an Adjoint
+    return LE isa Adjoint ? copy(LE) : LE
+end
+
+#####
+##### `exp`/`exp!`
+#####
+
+function frule((_, ΔA), ::typeof(LinearAlgebra.exp!), A::StridedMatrix{<:BlasFloat})
+    if ishermitian(A)
+        hermA = Hermitian(A)
+        hermX, intermediates = _matfun(exp, hermA)
+        ∂hermX = _matfun_frechet(exp, ΔA, hermA, hermX, intermediates)
+        X = Matrix(hermX)
+        ∂X = Matrix(∂hermX)
+    else
+        X, intermediates = _matfun!(exp, A)
+        ∂X = _matfun_frechet!(exp, ΔA, A, X, intermediates)
+    end
+    return X, ∂X
+end
+
+function rrule(::typeof(exp), A0::StridedMatrix{<:BlasFloat})
+    # TODO: try to make this more type-stable
+    if ishermitian(A0)
+        # call _matfun instead of the rrule to avoid hermitrizing ∂A in the pullback
+        hermA = Hermitian(A0)
+        hermX, hermX_intermediates = _matfun(exp, hermA)
+        function exp_pullback_hermitian(ΔX)
+            ∂hermA = _matfun_frechet_adjoint(exp, ΔX, hermA, hermX, hermX_intermediates)
+            return NO_FIELDS, Matrix(∂hermA)
+        end
+        return Matrix(hermX), exp_pullback_hermitian
+    else
+        A = copy(A0)
+        X, intermediates = _matfun!(exp, A)
+        function exp_pullback(ΔX)
+            ∂A = _matfun_frechet_adjoint!(exp, ΔX, A, X, intermediates)
+            return NO_FIELDS, ∂A
+        end
+        return X, exp_pullback
+    end
+end
+
+## Destructive matrix exponential using algorithm from Higham, 2008,
+## "Functions of Matrices: Theory and Computation", SIAM
+## Adapted from LinearAlgebra.exp! with return of intermediates
+## https://github.com/JuliaLang/julia/blob/f613b55/stdlib/LinearAlgebra/src/dense.jl#L583-L666
+function _matfun!(::typeof(exp), A::StridedMatrix{T}) where {T<:BlasFloat}
+    n = LinearAlgebra.checksquare(A)
+    ilo, ihi, scale = LAPACK.gebal!('B', A)  # modifies A
+    nA = opnorm(A, 1)
+    Inn = Matrix{T}(I, n, n)
+    ## For sufficiently small nA, use lower order Padé-Approximations
+    if (nA <= 2.1)
+        if nA > 0.95
+            C = T[
+                17643225600.0,
+                8821612800.0,
+                2075673600.0,
+                302702400.0,
+                30270240.0,
+                2162160.0,
+                110880.0,
+                3960.0,
+                90.0,
+                1.0,
+            ]
+        elseif nA > 0.25
+            C = T[17297280.0, 8648640.0, 1995840.0, 277200.0, 25200.0, 1512.0, 56.0, 1.0]
+        elseif nA > 0.015
+            C = T[30240.0, 15120.0, 3360.0, 420.0, 30.0, 1.0]
+        else
+            C = T[120.0, 60.0, 12.0, 1.0]
+        end
+        si = 0
+    else
+        C = T[
+            64764752532480000.0,
+            32382376266240000.0,
+            7771770303897600.0,
+            1187353796428800.0,
+            129060195264000.0,
+            10559470521600.0,
+            670442572800.0,
+            33522128640.0,
+            1323241920.0,
+            40840800.0,
+            960960.0,
+            16380.0,
+            182.0,
+            1.0,
+        ]
+        s = log2(nA / 5.4)  # power of 2 later reversed by squaring
+        si = ceil(Int, s)
+    end
+
+    if si > 0
+        A ./= convert(T, 2^si)
+    end
+
+    A2 = A * A
+    P = copy(Inn)
+    W = C[2] * P
+    V = C[1] * P
+    Apows = typeof(P)[]
+    for k in 1:(div(size(C, 1), 2) - 1)
+        k2 = 2 * k
+        P *= A2
+        push!(Apows, P)
+        W += C[k2 + 2] * P
+        V += C[k2 + 1] * P
+    end
+    U = A * W
+    X = V + U
+    F = lu!(V - U)  # NOTE: use lu! instead of LAPACK.gesv! so we can reuse factorization
+    ldiv!(F, X)
+    Xpows = typeof(X)[X]
+    if si > 0  # squaring to reverse dividing by power of 2
+        for t in 1:si
+            X *= X
+            push!(Xpows, X)
+        end
+    end
+
+    _unbalance!(X, ilo, ihi, scale, n)
+    return X, (ilo, ihi, scale, C, si, Apows, W, F, Xpows)
+end
+
+# Application of the chain rule to exp!, also Algorithm 6.4 from
+# Al-Mohy, Awad H. and Higham, Nicholas J. (2009).
+# Computing the Fréchet Derivative of the Matrix Exponential, with an application to
+# Condition Number Estimation", SIAM. 30 (4). pp. 1639-1657.
+# http://eprints.maths.manchester.ac.uk/id/eprint/1218
+function _matfun_frechet!(
+    ::typeof(exp), ΔA, A::StridedMatrix{T}, X, (ilo, ihi, scale, C, si, Apows, W, F, Xpows)
+) where {T<:BlasFloat}
+    n = LinearAlgebra.checksquare(A)
+    _balance!(ΔA, ilo, ihi, scale, n)
+
+    if si > 0
+        ΔA ./= convert(T, 2^si)
+    end
+
+    ∂A2 = mul!(A * ΔA, ΔA, A, true, true)
+    A2 = first(Apows)
+    # we will repeatedly overwrite ∂temp and ∂P below
+    ∂temp = Matrix{eltype(∂A2)}(undef, n, n)
+    ∂P = copy(∂A2)
+    ∂W = C[4] * ∂P
+    ∂V = C[3] * ∂P
+    for k in 2:(length(Apows) - 1)
+        k2 = 2 * k
+        P = Apows[k - 1]
+        ∂P, ∂temp = mul!(mul!(∂temp, ∂P, A2), P, ∂A2, true, true), ∂P
+        axpy!(C[k2 + 2], ∂P, ∂W)
+        axpy!(C[k2 + 1], ∂P, ∂V)
+    end
+    ∂U, ∂temp = mul!(mul!(∂temp, A, ∂W), ΔA, W, true, true), ∂W
+    ∂temp .= ∂U .- ∂V
+    ∂X = add!!(∂U, ∂V)
+    mul!(∂X, ∂temp, first(Xpows), true, true)
+    ldiv!(F, ∂X)
+
+    if si > 0
+        for t in 1:(length(Xpows) - 1)
+            X = Xpows[t]
+            ∂X, ∂temp = mul!(mul!(∂temp, X, ∂X), ∂X, X, true, true), ∂X
+        end
+    end
+
+    _unbalance!(∂X, ilo, ihi, scale, n)
+    return ∂X
+end
+
+#####
+##### utils
+#####
+
+# Given (ilo, ihi, iscale) returned by LAPACK.gebal!('B', A), apply same balancing to X
+function _balance!(X, ilo, ihi, scale, n)
+    n = size(X, 1)
+    if ihi < n
+        for j in (ihi + 1):n
+            LinearAlgebra.rcswap!(j, Int(scale[j]), X)
+        end
+    end
+    if ilo > 1
+        for j in (ilo - 1):-1:1
+            LinearAlgebra.rcswap!(j, Int(scale[j]), X)
+        end
+    end
+
+    for j in ilo:ihi
+        scj = scale[j]
+        for i in 1:n
+            X[j, i] /= scj
+        end
+        for i in 1:n
+            X[i, j] *= scj
+        end
+    end
+    return X
+end
+
+# Reverse of _balance!
+function _unbalance!(X, ilo, ihi, scale, n)
+    for j in ilo:ihi
+        scj = scale[j]
+        for i in 1:n
+            X[j, i] *= scj
+        end
+        for i in 1:n
+            X[i, j] /= scj
+        end
+    end
+
+    if ilo > 1
+        for j in (ilo - 1):-1:1
+            LinearAlgebra.rcswap!(j, Int(scale[j]), X)
+        end
+    end
+    if ihi < n
+        for j in (ihi + 1):n
+            LinearAlgebra.rcswap!(j, Int(scale[j]), X)
+        end
+    end
+    return X
+end
diff --git a/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl b/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl
index a1985ec40..9471b3ba5 100644
--- a/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl
+++ b/src/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl
@@ -292,7 +292,7 @@ for func in (:exp, :log, :sqrt, :cos, :sin, :tan, :cosh, :sinh, :tanh, :acos, :a
     @eval begin
         function frule((_, ΔA), ::typeof($func), A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm)
             Y, intermediates = _matfun($func, A)
-            Ȳ = _matfun_frechet($func, A, Y, ΔA, intermediates)
+            Ȳ = _matfun_frechet($func, ΔA, A, Y, intermediates)
             # If ΔA was hermitian, then ∂Y has the same structure as Y
             ∂Y = if ishermitian(ΔA) && (isa(Y, Symmetric) || isa(Y, Hermitian))
                 _symhermlike!(Ȳ, Y)
@@ -308,8 +308,7 @@ for func in (:exp, :log, :sqrt, :cos, :sin, :tan, :cosh, :sinh, :tanh, :acos, :a
                 # for Hermitian Y, we don't need to realify the diagonal of ΔY, since the
                 # effect is the same as applying _hermitrizelike! at the end
                 ∂Y = eltype(Y) <: Real ? real(ΔY) : ΔY
-                # for matrix functions, the pullback is related to the pushforward by an adjoint
-                Ā = _matfun_frechet($func, A, Y, ∂Y', intermediates)
+                Ā = _matfun_frechet_adjoint($func, ∂Y, A, Y, intermediates)
                 # the cotangent of Hermitian A should be Hermitian
                 ∂A = _hermitrizelike!(Ā, A)
                 return NO_FIELDS, ∂A
@@ -344,9 +343,9 @@ function rrule(::typeof(sincos), A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm)
             ΔsinA, ΔcosA = real(ΔsinA), real(ΔcosA)
         end
         if ΔcosA isa AbstractZero
-            Ā = _matfun_frechet(sin, A, sinA, ΔsinA, (λ, U, sinλ, cosλ))
+            Ā = _matfun_frechet_adjoint(sin, ΔsinA, A, sinA, (λ, U, sinλ, cosλ))
         elseif ΔsinA isa AbstractZero
-            Ā = _matfun_frechet(cos, A, cosA, ΔcosA, (λ, U, cosλ, -sinλ))
+            Ā = _matfun_frechet_adjoint(cos, ΔcosA, A, cosA, (λ, U, cosλ, -sinλ))
         else
             # we will overwrite tmp with various temporary values during this computation
             tmp = mul!(similar(U, Base.promote_eltype(U, ΔsinA, ΔcosA)), ΔsinA, U)
@@ -367,7 +366,8 @@ end
 
 Compute the matrix function `f(A)` for real or complex hermitian `A`.
 The function returns a tuple containing the result and a tuple of intermediates to be
-reused by `_matfun_frechet` to compute the Fréchet derivative.
+reused by [`_matfun_frechet`](@ref) to compute the Fréchet derivative.
+
 Note any function `f` used with this **must** have a `frule` defined on it.
 """
 function _matfun(f, A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm)
@@ -392,13 +392,7 @@ function _matfun(f, A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm)
 end
 
 # Computes ∂Y = U * (P .* (U' * ΔA * U)) * U' with fewer allocations
-"""
-    _matfun_frechet(f, A::RealHermSymComplexHerm, Y, ΔA, intermediates)
-
-Compute the Fréchet derivative of the matrix function `Y=f(A)`, where the Fréchet derivative
-of `A` is `ΔA`, and `intermediates` is the second argument returned by `_matfun`.
-"""
-function _matfun_frechet(f, A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm, Y, ΔA, (λ, U, fλ, df_dλ))
+function _matfun_frechet(f, ΔA, A::LinearAlgebra.RealHermSymComplexHerm, Y, (λ, U, fλ, df_dλ))
     # We will overwrite tmp matrix several times to hold different values
     tmp = mul!(similar(U, Base.promote_eltype(U, ΔA)), ΔA, U)
     ∂Λ = mul!(similar(tmp), U', tmp)
diff --git a/test/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl b/test/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..065574611
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+@testset "matrix functions" begin
+    @testset "LinearAlgebra.exp!(A::Matrix) frule" begin
+        n = 10
+        # each normalization hits a specific branch
+        @testset "A::Matrix{$T}, opnorm(A,1)=$nrm" for T in (Float64, ComplexF64),
+            nrm in (0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0)
+
+            A, ΔA = randn(ComplexF64, n, n), randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            A *= nrm / opnorm(A, 1)
+            frule_test(LinearAlgebra.exp!, (A, ΔA))
+        end
+        @testset "imbalanced A" begin
+            A = Float64[0 10 0 0; -1 0 0 0; 0 0 0 0; -2 0 0 0]
+            ΔA = rand_tangent(A)
+            frule_test(LinearAlgebra.exp!, (A, ΔA))
+        end
+        @testset "hermitian A" begin
+            A = Matrix(Hermitian(randn(ComplexF64, n, n)))
+            ΔA = randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            frule_test(LinearAlgebra.exp!, (A, Matrix(Hermitian(ΔA))))
+            frule_test(LinearAlgebra.exp!, (A, ΔA))
+        end
+    end
+
+    @testset "exp(A::Matrix) rrule" begin
+        n = 10
+        # each normalization hits a specific branch
+        @testset "A::Matrix{$T}, opnorm(A,1)=$nrm" for T in (Float64, ComplexF64),
+            nrm in (0.01, 0.1, 0.5, 1.5, 3.0, 6.0, 12.0)
+
+            A, ΔA = randn(ComplexF64, n, n), randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            ΔY = randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            A *= nrm / opnorm(A, 1)
+            # rrule is not inferrable, but pullback should be
+            rrule_test(exp, ΔY, (A, ΔA); check_inferred=false)
+            Y, back = rrule(exp, A)
+            @inferred back(ΔY)
+        end
+        @testset "imbalanced A" begin
+            A = Float64[0 10 0 0; -1 0 0 0; 0 0 0 0; -2 0 0 0]
+            ΔA = rand_tangent(A)
+            ΔY = rand_tangent(exp(A))
+            rrule_test(exp, ΔY, (A, ΔA); check_inferred=false)
+        end
+        @testset "hermitian A" begin
+            A, ΔA = Matrix(Hermitian(randn(ComplexF64, n, n))), randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            ΔY = randn(ComplexF64, n, n)
+            rrule_test(exp, Matrix(Hermitian(ΔY)), (A, ΔA); check_inferred=false)
+            rrule_test(exp, ΔY, (A, ΔA); check_inferred=false)
+        end
+    end
+end
diff --git a/test/runtests.jl b/test/runtests.jl
index 7362d68a1..ea6eb5d8b 100644
--- a/test/runtests.jl
+++ b/test/runtests.jl
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ println("Testing ChainRules.jl")
         @testset "LinearAlgebra" begin
             include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/dense.jl")
             include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/norm.jl")
+            include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/matfun.jl")
             include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/structured.jl")
             include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/symmetric.jl")
             include_test("rulesets/LinearAlgebra/factorization.jl")