diff --git a/lib/cartopy/mpl/geoaxes.py b/lib/cartopy/mpl/geoaxes.py
index d1a94cb7b..372a04b0a 100644
--- a/lib/cartopy/mpl/geoaxes.py
+++ b/lib/cartopy/mpl/geoaxes.py
@@ -410,7 +410,6 @@ def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         self.projection = projection
 
         super().__init__(*args, **kwargs)
-        self._gridliners = []
         self.img_factories = []
         self._done_img_factory = False
 
@@ -487,16 +486,14 @@ def _draw_preprocess(self, renderer):
         self.patch._adjust_location()
 
         self.apply_aspect()
-        for gl in self._gridliners:
-            gl._draw_gridliner(renderer=renderer)
 
     def get_tightbbox(self, renderer, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         Extend the standard behaviour of
         :func:`matplotlib.axes.Axes.get_tightbbox`.
 
-        Adjust the axes aspect ratio, background patch location, and add
-        gridliners before calculating the tight bounding box.
+        Adjust the axes aspect ratio and background patch location before
+        calculating the tight bounding box.
         """
         # Shared processing steps
         self._draw_preprocess(renderer)
@@ -508,9 +505,8 @@ def draw(self, renderer=None, **kwargs):
         """
         Extend the standard behaviour of :func:`matplotlib.axes.Axes.draw`.
 
-        Draw grid lines and image factory results before invoking standard
-        Matplotlib drawing. A global range is used if no limits have yet
-        been set.
+        Draw image factory results before invoking standard Matplotlib drawing.
+        A global range is used if no limits have yet been set.
         """
         # Shared processing steps
         self._draw_preprocess(renderer)
@@ -532,7 +528,10 @@ def draw(self, renderer=None, **kwargs):
 
     def _update_title_position(self, renderer):
         super()._update_title_position(renderer)
-        if not self._gridliners:
+
+        from cartopy.mpl.gridliner import Gridliner
+        gridliners = [a for a in self.artists if isinstance(a, Gridliner)]
+        if not gridliners:
             return
 
         if self._autotitlepos is not None and not self._autotitlepos:
@@ -540,7 +539,7 @@ def _update_title_position(self, renderer):
 
         # Get the max ymax of all top labels
         top = -1
-        for gl in self._gridliners:
+        for gl in gridliners:
             if gl.has_labels():
                 for label in (gl.top_label_artists +
                               gl.left_label_artists +
@@ -1512,7 +1511,7 @@ def gridlines(self, crs=None, draw_labels=False,
             labels_bbox_style=labels_bbox_style,
             xpadding=xpadding, ypadding=ypadding, offset_angle=offset_angle,
             auto_update=auto_update, formatter_kwargs=formatter_kwargs)
-        self._gridliners.append(gl)
+        self.add_artist(gl)
         return gl
 
     def _gen_axes_patch(self):
diff --git a/lib/cartopy/mpl/gridliner.py b/lib/cartopy/mpl/gridliner.py
index dcc22f523..ccf6e0651 100644
--- a/lib/cartopy/mpl/gridliner.py
+++ b/lib/cartopy/mpl/gridliner.py
@@ -9,7 +9,9 @@
 import warnings
 
 import matplotlib
+import matplotlib.artist
 import matplotlib.collections as mcollections
+import matplotlib.text
 import matplotlib.ticker as mticker
 import matplotlib.transforms as mtrans
 import numpy as np
@@ -101,11 +103,7 @@ def _north_south_formatted(latitude, num_format='g'):
                                            _north_south_formatted(v))
 
 
-class Gridliner:
-    # NOTE: In future, one of these objects will be add-able to a GeoAxes (and
-    # maybe even a plain old mpl axes) and it will call the "_draw_gridliner"
-    # method on draw. This will enable automatic gridline resolution
-    # determination on zoom/pan.
+class Gridliner(matplotlib.artist.Artist):
     def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
                  ylocator=None, collection_kwargs=None,
                  xformatter=None, yformatter=None, dms=False,
@@ -115,7 +113,7 @@ def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
                  xpadding=5, ypadding=5, offset_angle=25,
                  auto_update=False, formatter_kwargs=None):
         """
-        Object used by :meth:`cartopy.mpl.geoaxes.GeoAxes.gridlines`
+        Artist used by :meth:`cartopy.mpl.geoaxes.GeoAxes.gridlines`
         to add gridlines and tick labels to a map.
 
         Parameters
@@ -234,7 +232,13 @@ def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
         used for the map, meridians and parallels can cross both the X axis and
         the Y axis.
         """
-        self.axes = axes
+        super().__init__()
+
+        # We do not want the labels clipped to axes.
+        self.set_clip_on(False)
+        # Backcompat: the LineCollection was previously added directly to the
+        # axes, having a default zorder of 2.
+        self.set_zorder(2)
 
         #: The :class:`~matplotlib.ticker.Locator` to use for the x
         #: gridlines and labels.
@@ -332,10 +336,10 @@ def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
                 raise ValueError(f"Invalid draw_labels argument: {value}")
 
         if auto_inline:
-            if isinstance(self.axes.projection, _X_INLINE_PROJS):
+            if isinstance(axes.projection, _X_INLINE_PROJS):
                 self.x_inline = True
                 self.y_inline = False
-            elif isinstance(self.axes.projection, _POLAR_PROJS):
+            elif isinstance(axes.projection, _POLAR_PROJS):
                 self.x_inline = False
                 self.y_inline = True
             else:
@@ -399,7 +403,7 @@ def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
         #: Control the rotation of labels.
         if rotate_labels is None:
             rotate_labels = (
-                self.axes.projection.__class__ in _ROTATE_LABEL_PROJS)
+                axes.projection.__class__ in _ROTATE_LABEL_PROJS)
         if not isinstance(rotate_labels, (bool, float, int)):
             raise ValueError("Invalid rotate_labels argument")
         self.rotate_labels = rotate_labels
@@ -436,10 +440,6 @@ def __init__(self, axes, crs, draw_labels=False, xlocator=None,
         self._drawn = False
         self._auto_update = auto_update
 
-        # Check visibility of labels at each draw event
-        # (or once drawn, only at resize event ?)
-        self.axes.figure.canvas.mpl_connect('draw_event', self._draw_event)
-
     @property
     def xlabels_top(self):
         warnings.warn('The .xlabels_top attribute is deprecated. Please '
@@ -488,9 +488,6 @@ def ylabels_right(self, value):
                       'use .right_labels to toggle visibility instead.')
         self.right_labels = value
 
-    def _draw_event(self, event):
-        self._draw_gridliner(renderer=event.renderer)
-
     def has_labels(self):
         return len(self._labels) != 0
 
@@ -629,13 +626,9 @@ def _draw_gridliner(self, nx=None, ny=None, renderer=None):
             return
         self._drawn = True
 
-        # Clear lists of artists
-        for lines in [*self.xline_artists, *self.yline_artists]:
-            lines.remove()
+        # Clear lists of child artists
         self.xline_artists.clear()
         self.yline_artists.clear()
-        for label in self._labels:
-            label.artist.remove()
         self._labels.clear()
 
         # Inits
@@ -673,6 +666,7 @@ def _draw_gridliner(self, nx=None, ny=None, renderer=None):
         if not any(x in collection_kwargs for x in ['lw', 'linewidth']):
             collection_kwargs.setdefault('linewidth',
                                          matplotlib.rcParams['grid.linewidth'])
+        collection_kwargs.setdefault('clip_path', self.axes.patch)
 
         # Meridians
         lat_min, lat_max = lat_lim
@@ -696,7 +690,6 @@ def _draw_gridliner(self, nx=None, ny=None, renderer=None):
             lon_lc = mcollections.LineCollection(lon_lines,
                                                  **collection_kwargs)
             self.xline_artists.append(lon_lc)
-            self.axes.add_collection(lon_lc, autolim=False)
 
         # Parallels
         lon_min, lon_max = lon_lim
@@ -711,7 +704,6 @@ def _draw_gridliner(self, nx=None, ny=None, renderer=None):
             lat_lc = mcollections.LineCollection(lat_lines,
                                                  **collection_kwargs)
             self.yline_artists.append(lat_lc)
-            self.axes.add_collection(lat_lc, autolim=False)
 
         #################
         # Label drawing #
@@ -925,7 +917,9 @@ def update_artist(artist, renderer):
 
                     # Add text to the plot
                     text = formatter(tick_value)
-                    artist = self.axes.text(x, y, text, **kw)
+                    artist = matplotlib.text.Text(x, y, text, **kw)
+                    artist.set_figure(self.axes.figure)
+                    artist.axes = self.axes
 
                     # Update loc from spine overlapping now that we have a bbox
                     # of the label.
@@ -1239,6 +1233,26 @@ def _axes_domain(self, nx=None, ny=None):
 
         return lon_range, lat_range
 
+    def get_visible_children(self):
+        r"""Return a list of the visible child `.Artist`\s."""
+        all_children = (self.xline_artists + self.yline_artists
+                        + self.label_artists)
+        return [c for c in all_children if c.get_visible()]
+
+    def get_window_extent(self, renderer=None):
+        self._draw_gridliner(renderer=renderer)
+        visible_text_extents = [c.get_window_extent(renderer=renderer)
+                                for c in self.label_artists if c.get_visible()]
+        if visible_text_extents:
+            return mtrans.Bbox.union(visible_text_extents)
+        else:
+            return mtrans.Bbox.null()
+
+    def draw(self, renderer=None):
+        self._draw_gridliner(renderer=renderer)
+        for c in self.get_visible_children():
+            c.draw(renderer=renderer)
+
 
 class Label:
     """Helper class to manage the attributes for a single label"""
diff --git a/lib/cartopy/tests/mpl/test_gridliner.py b/lib/cartopy/tests/mpl/test_gridliner.py
index 120295c4a..515c594e3 100644
--- a/lib/cartopy/tests/mpl/test_gridliner.py
+++ b/lib/cartopy/tests/mpl/test_gridliner.py
@@ -4,6 +4,9 @@
 # See COPYING and COPYING.LESSER in the root of the repository for full
 # licensing details.
 
+import io
+from unittest import mock
+
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import matplotlib.ticker as mticker
 import numpy as np
@@ -13,7 +16,8 @@
 import cartopy.crs as ccrs
 from cartopy.mpl.geoaxes import GeoAxes
 from cartopy.mpl.gridliner import (LATITUDE_FORMATTER, LONGITUDE_FORMATTER,
-                                   classic_formatter, classic_locator)
+                                   Gridliner, classic_formatter,
+                                   classic_locator)
 from cartopy.mpl.ticker import LongitudeFormatter, LongitudeLocator
 
 
@@ -242,8 +246,9 @@ def test_grid_labels_tight():
 
     # Ensure gridliners were drawn
     for ax in fig.axes:
-        for gl in ax._gridliners:
-            assert hasattr(gl, '_drawn') and gl._drawn
+        for artist in ax.artists:
+            if isinstance(artist, Gridliner):
+                assert hasattr(artist, '_drawn') and artist._drawn
 
     return fig
 
@@ -432,3 +437,39 @@ def test_gridliner_formatter_kwargs():
     fig.canvas.draw()
     labels = [a.get_text() for a in gl.bottom_label_artists if a.get_visible()]
     assert labels == ['75°O', '70°O', '65°O', '60°O', '55°O', '50°O', '45°O']
+
+
+def test_gridliner_count_draws():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection=ccrs.PlateCarree())
+    ax.set_global()
+    gl = ax.gridlines()
+
+    with mock.patch.object(gl, '_draw_gridliner', return_value=None) as mocked:
+        ax.get_tightbbox(renderer=None)
+        mocked.assert_called_once()
+
+    with mock.patch.object(gl, '_draw_gridliner', return_value=None) as mocked:
+        fig.draw_without_rendering()
+        mocked.assert_called_once()
+
+
+def test_gridliner_remove():
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection=ccrs.PlateCarree())
+    ax.set_global()
+    gl = ax.gridlines(draw_labels=True)
+    fig.draw_without_rendering()  # Generate child artists
+    gl.remove()
+
+    assert not ax.artists
+    assert not ax.collections
+
+
+def test_gridliner_save_tight_bbox():
+    # Smoke test for save with auto_update=True and bbox_inches=Tight (gh2246).
+    fig = plt.figure()
+    ax = fig.add_subplot(1, 1, 1, projection=ccrs.PlateCarree())
+    ax.set_global()
+    ax.gridlines(draw_labels=True, auto_update=True)
+    fig.savefig(io.BytesIO(), bbox_inches='tight')