diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
index db5367c8f..b1e46308d 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3.h
@@ -435,7 +435,7 @@ namespace gtsam {
      * This means either re-orthogonalizing the Matrix representation or
      * normalizing the quaternion representation.
      */
-    Rot3 normalize(const Rot3& R) const;
+    Rot3 normalized() const;
 
     /// @deprecated, this is base 1, and was just confusing
     Point3 column(int index) const;
diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3M.cpp b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3M.cpp
index ffc468dfc..c372d403b 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3M.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3M.cpp
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ Rot3 Rot3::RzRyRx(double x, double y, double z, OptionalJacobian<3, 1> Hx,
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
-Rot3 Rot3::normalize(const Rot3& R) const {
+Rot3 Rot3::normalized() const {
   /// Implementation from here: https://stackoverflow.com/a/23082112/1236990
   /// Theory: https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B9rLLz1XQKmaZTlQdV81QjNoZTA/view
 
@@ -117,9 +117,11 @@ Rot3 Rot3::normalize(const Rot3& R) const {
   /// error to the x and y rows, and then performs a Taylor expansion to
   /// orthogonalize.
 
-  Matrix3 rot = R.matrix(), rot_new;
+  Matrix3 rot = rot_.matrix(), rot_orth;
 
-  if (std::fabs(rot.determinant()-1) < 1e-12) return R;
+  // Check if determinant is already 1.
+  // If yes, then return the current Rot3.
+  if (std::fabs(rot.determinant()-1) < 1e-12) return Rot3(rot_);
 
   Vector3 x = rot.block<1, 3>(0, 0), y = rot.block<1, 3>(1, 0);
   double error = x.dot(y);
@@ -127,16 +129,16 @@ Rot3 Rot3::normalize(const Rot3& R) const {
   Vector3 x_ort = x - (error / 2) * y, y_ort = y - (error / 2) * x;
   Vector3 z_ort = x_ort.cross(y_ort);
 
-  rot_new.block<1, 3>(0, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - x_ort.dot(x_ort)) * x_ort;
-  rot_new.block<1, 3>(1, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - y_ort.dot(y_ort)) * y_ort;
-  rot_new.block<1, 3>(2, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - z_ort.dot(z_ort)) * z_ort;
+  rot_orth.block<1, 3>(0, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - x_ort.dot(x_ort)) * x_ort;
+  rot_orth.block<1, 3>(1, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - y_ort.dot(y_ort)) * y_ort;
+  rot_orth.block<1, 3>(2, 0) = 0.5 * (3 - z_ort.dot(z_ort)) * z_ort;
 
-  return Rot3(rot_new);
+  return Rot3(rot_orth);
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
 Rot3 Rot3::operator*(const Rot3& R2) const {
-  return normalize(Rot3(rot_*R2.rot_));
+  return Rot3(rot_*R2.rot_);
 }
 
 /* ************************************************************************* */
diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3Q.cpp b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3Q.cpp
index d4400b0dc..523255d87 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/Rot3Q.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/Rot3Q.cpp
@@ -87,12 +87,12 @@ namespace gtsam {
   }
 
   /* ************************************************************************* */
-  Rot3 Rot3::normalize(const Rot3& R) const {
-    return Rot3(R.quaternion_.normalized());
+  Rot3 Rot3::normalized() const {
+    return Rot3(quaternion_.normalized());
   }
   /* ************************************************************************* */
   Rot3 Rot3::operator*(const Rot3& R2) const {
-    return normalize(Rot3(quaternion_ * R2.quaternion_));
+    return Rot3(quaternion_ * R2.quaternion_);
   }
 
   /* ************************************************************************* */
diff --git a/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp b/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
index e86029026..7b792f8bd 100644
--- a/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
+++ b/gtsam/geometry/tests/testRot3.cpp
@@ -923,7 +923,7 @@ TEST(Rot3, determinant) {
     R_01 = R_w0.between(R_w1);
     R_w2 = R_w1 * R_01;
     R_w0 = R_w1;
-    R_w1 = R_w2;
+    R_w1 = R_w2.normalized();
     actual = R_w2.matrix().determinant();
 
     EXPECT_DOUBLES_EQUAL(expected, actual, 1e-7);