diff --git a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/LaTeX.hs b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/LaTeX.hs
index 6c17401d0..b2db7377d 100644
--- a/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/LaTeX.hs
+++ b/src/Text/Pandoc/Writers/LaTeX.hs
@@ -556,7 +556,8 @@ tableCellToLaTeX header (width, align, blocks) = do
                AlignDefault -> "\\raggedright"
   return $ ("\\begin{minipage}" <> valign <>
             braces (text (printf "%.2f\\columnwidth" width)) <>
-            (halign <> cr <> cellContents <> cr) <> "\\end{minipage}")
+            (halign <> "\\strut" <> cr <> cellContents <> cr) <>
+            "\\strut\\end{minipage}")
           $$ case notes of
                   [] -> empty
                   ns -> (case length ns of
diff --git a/tests/tables.latex b/tests/tables.latex
index 1349960a3..850629499 100644
--- a/tests/tables.latex
+++ b/tests/tables.latex
@@ -52,47 +52,47 @@ Multiline table with caption:
 \begin{longtable}[c]{@{}clrl@{}}
 \caption{Here's the caption. It may span multiple lines.}\tabularnewline
 \toprule
-\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Centered Header
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Left Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 Right Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Default aligned
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \midrule
 \endfirsthead
 \toprule
-\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Centered Header
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Left Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 Right Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Default aligned
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \midrule
 \endhead
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 First
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 12.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Example of a row that spans multiple lines.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Second
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 5.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Here's another one. Note the blank line between rows.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \bottomrule
 \end{longtable}
 
@@ -100,35 +100,35 @@ Multiline table without caption:
 
 \begin{longtable}[c]{@{}clrl@{}}
 \toprule
-\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[b]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Centered Header
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Left Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 Right Aligned
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[b]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Default aligned
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \midrule
 \endhead
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 First
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 12.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Example of a row that spans multiple lines.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Second
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 5.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Here's another one. Note the blank line between rows.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \bottomrule
 \end{longtable}
 
@@ -146,23 +146,23 @@ Multiline table without column headers:
 
 \begin{longtable}[c]{@{}clrl@{}}
 \toprule
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 First
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 12.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Example of a row that spans multiple lines.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
-\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\begin{minipage}[t]{0.13\columnwidth}\centering\strut
 Second
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.12\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 row
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.14\columnwidth}\raggedleft\strut
 5.0
-\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright
+\strut\end{minipage} & \begin{minipage}[t]{0.30\columnwidth}\raggedright\strut
 Here's another one. Note the blank line between rows.
-\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
+\strut\end{minipage}\tabularnewline
 \bottomrule
 \end{longtable}