diff --git a/doc/whats-new.rst b/doc/whats-new.rst
index 03898ae1d2a..3f1b2c59b0b 100644
--- a/doc/whats-new.rst
+++ b/doc/whats-new.rst
@@ -25,7 +25,8 @@ New functions/methods
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
 - Added :py:meth:`DataArray.broadcast_like` and :py:meth:`Dataset.broadcast_like`.
-  By `Deepak Cherian <https://github.com/dcherian>`_.
+  By `Deepak Cherian <https://github.com/dcherian>`_ and `David Mertz 
+  <http://github.com/DavidMertz>`_.
 
 Enhancements
 ~~~~~~~~~~~~
diff --git a/xarray/core/dataarray.py b/xarray/core/dataarray.py
index aa16a04ec12..99014e9efe1 100644
--- a/xarray/core/dataarray.py
+++ b/xarray/core/dataarray.py
@@ -998,17 +998,58 @@ def sel_points(self, dim='points', method=None, tolerance=None,
     def broadcast_like(self,
                        other: Union['DataArray', Dataset],
                        exclude=None) -> 'DataArray':
-        """Broadcast this DataArray against another Dataset or DataArray.
+        """Broadcast a DataArray to the shape of another DataArray or Dataset
+
         This is equivalent to xr.broadcast(other, self)[1]
 
+        xarray objects are broadcast against each other in arithmetic
+        operations, so this method is not be necessary for most uses.
+
+        If no change is needed, the input data is returned to the output
+        without being copied.
+
+        If new coords are added by the broadcast, their values are
+        NaN filled.
+
         Parameters
         ----------
         other : Dataset or DataArray
             Object against which to broadcast this array.
+
         exclude : sequence of str, optional
             Dimensions that must not be broadcasted
-        """
 
+        Returns
+        -------
+        new_da: xr.DataArray
+
+        Examples
+        --------
+
+        >>> arr1
+        <xarray.DataArray (x: 2, y: 3)>
+        array([[0.840235, 0.215216, 0.77917 ],
+               [0.726351, 0.543824, 0.875115]])
+        Coordinates:
+          * x        (x) <U1 'a' 'b'
+          * y        (y) <U1 'a' 'b' 'c'
+        >>> arr2
+        <xarray.DataArray (x: 3, y: 2)>
+        array([[0.612611, 0.125753],
+               [0.853181, 0.948818],
+               [0.180885, 0.33363 ]])
+        Coordinates:
+          * x        (x) <U1 'a' 'b' 'c'
+          * y        (y) <U1 'a' 'b'
+        >>> arr1.broadcast_like(arr2)
+        <xarray.DataArray (x: 3, y: 3)>
+        array([[0.840235, 0.215216, 0.77917 ],
+               [0.726351, 0.543824, 0.875115],
+               [     nan,      nan,      nan]])
+        Coordinates:
+          * x        (x) object 'a' 'b' 'c'
+          * y        (y) object 'a' 'b' 'c'
+        """
         if exclude is None:
             exclude = set()
         args = align(other, self, join='outer', copy=False, exclude=exclude)
@@ -1016,7 +1057,7 @@ def broadcast_like(self,
         dims_map, common_coords = _get_broadcast_dims_map_common_coords(
             args, exclude)
 
-        return _broadcast_helper(self, exclude, dims_map, common_coords)
+        return _broadcast_helper(args[1], exclude, dims_map, common_coords)
 
     def reindex_like(self, other: Union['DataArray', Dataset],
                      method: Optional[str] = None, tolerance=None,
diff --git a/xarray/core/dataset.py b/xarray/core/dataset.py
index 775fdd497b6..d00ea1e4acd 100644
--- a/xarray/core/dataset.py
+++ b/xarray/core/dataset.py
@@ -2039,7 +2039,7 @@ def broadcast_like(self,
         dims_map, common_coords = _get_broadcast_dims_map_common_coords(
             args, exclude)
 
-        return _broadcast_helper(self, exclude, dims_map, common_coords)
+        return _broadcast_helper(args[1], exclude, dims_map, common_coords)
 
     def reindex_like(self, other, method=None, tolerance=None, copy=True,
                      fill_value=dtypes.NA):
diff --git a/xarray/tests/test_dataarray.py b/xarray/tests/test_dataarray.py
index 63317519bc7..54b22fd336d 100644
--- a/xarray/tests/test_dataarray.py
+++ b/xarray/tests/test_dataarray.py
@@ -1256,19 +1256,23 @@ def test_coords_non_string(self):
         assert_identical(actual, expected)
 
     def test_broadcast_like(self):
-        original1 = DataArray(np.random.randn(5),
-                              [('x', range(5))])
-
-        original2 = DataArray(np.random.randn(6),
-                              [('y', range(6))])
-
-        expected1, expected2 = broadcast(original1, original2)
-
-        assert_identical(original1.broadcast_like(original2),
-                         expected1.transpose('y', 'x'))
-
-        assert_identical(original2.broadcast_like(original1),
-                         expected2)
+        arr1 = DataArray(np.ones((2, 3)), dims=['x', 'y'],
+                         coords={'x': ['a', 'b'], 'y': ['a', 'b', 'c']})
+        arr2 = DataArray(np.ones((3, 2)), dims=['x', 'y'],
+                         coords={'x': ['a', 'b', 'c'], 'y': ['a', 'b']})
+        orig1, orig2 = broadcast(arr1, arr2)
+        new1 = arr1.broadcast_like(arr2)
+        new2 = arr2.broadcast_like(arr1)
+
+        assert orig1.identical(new1)
+        assert orig2.identical(new2)
+
+        orig3 = DataArray(np.random.randn(5), [('x', range(5))])
+        orig4 = DataArray(np.random.randn(6), [('y', range(6))])
+        new3, new4 = broadcast(orig3, orig4)
+
+        assert_identical(orig3.broadcast_like(orig4), new3.transpose('y', 'x'))
+        assert_identical(orig4.broadcast_like(orig3), new4)
 
     def test_reindex_like(self):
         foo = DataArray(np.random.randn(5, 6),