diff --git a/src/Gui/Application.cpp b/src/Gui/Application.cpp
index dbb6c88a3d..1ba99e4382 100644
--- a/src/Gui/Application.cpp
+++ b/src/Gui/Application.cpp
@@ -230,6 +230,47 @@ FreeCADGui_subgraphFromObject(PyObject * /*self*/, PyObject *args)
     return Py_None;
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+FreeCADGui_replaceSwitchNodes(PyObject * /*self*/, PyObject *args)
+{
+    PyObject* proxy;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "O", &proxy))
+        return nullptr;
+
+    void* ptr = 0;
+    try {
+        Base::Interpreter().convertSWIGPointerObj("pivy.coin", "SoNode *", proxy, &ptr, 0);
+        SoNode* node = reinterpret_cast<SoNode*>(ptr);
+        SoNode* replace = SoFCDB::replaceSwitches(node);
+        if (replace) {
+            replace->ref();
+
+            std::string prefix = "So";
+            std::string type = replace->getTypeId().getName().getString();
+            // doesn't start with the prefix 'So'
+            if (type.rfind("So", 0) != 0) {
+                type = prefix + type;
+            }
+            else if (type == "SoFCSelectionRoot") {
+                type = "SoSeparator";
+            }
+
+            type += " *";
+            PyObject* proxy = 0;
+            proxy = Base::Interpreter().createSWIGPointerObj("pivy.coin", type.c_str(), (void*)replace, 1);
+            return Py::new_reference_to(Py::Object(proxy, true));
+        }
+        else {
+            Py_INCREF(Py_None);
+            return Py_None;
+        }
+    }
+    catch (const Base::Exception& e) {
+        PyErr_SetString(PyExc_RuntimeError, e.what());
+        return nullptr;
+    }
+}
+
 static PyObject *
 FreeCADGui_getSoDBVersion(PyObject * /*self*/, PyObject *args)
 {
@@ -293,6 +334,9 @@ struct PyMethodDef FreeCADGui_methods[] = {
     {"subgraphFromObject",FreeCADGui_subgraphFromObject,METH_VARARGS,
      "subgraphFromObject(object) -> Node\n\n"
      "Return the Inventor subgraph to an object"},
+    {"replaceSwitchNodes",FreeCADGui_replaceSwitchNodes,METH_VARARGS,
+     "replaceSwitchNodes(Node) -> Node\n\n"
+     "Replace Switch nodes with Separators"},
     {"getSoDBVersion",FreeCADGui_getSoDBVersion,METH_VARARGS,
      "getSoDBVersion() -> String\n\n"
      "Return a text string containing the name\n"
diff --git a/src/Gui/SoFCDB.cpp b/src/Gui/SoFCDB.cpp
index 3c9c7fd7be..e5477e9883 100644
--- a/src/Gui/SoFCDB.cpp
+++ b/src/Gui/SoFCDB.cpp
@@ -295,6 +295,11 @@ SoNode* replaceSwitchesInSceneGraph(SoNode* node)
     return node;
 }
 
+SoNode* Gui::SoFCDB::replaceSwitches(SoNode* node)
+{
+    return replaceSwitchesInSceneGraph(node);
+}
+
 bool Gui::SoFCDB::writeToVRML(SoNode* node, const char* filename, bool binary)
 {
     SoNode* noSwitches = replaceSwitchesInSceneGraph(node);
diff --git a/src/Gui/SoFCDB.h b/src/Gui/SoFCDB.h
index 129f4e045d..932eab0572 100644
--- a/src/Gui/SoFCDB.h
+++ b/src/Gui/SoFCDB.h
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@ public:
     static SbBool isInitialized(void);
     static void init();
     static void finish();
+    static SoNode* replaceSwitches(SoNode* node);
     /// helper to apply a SoWriteAction to a node and write it to a string
     static const std::string& writeNodesToString(SoNode * root);
     static bool writeToVRML(SoNode* node, const char* filename, bool binary);