diff --git a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.core/src/org/eclipse/elk/core/RecursiveGraphLayoutEngine.java b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.core/src/org/eclipse/elk/core/RecursiveGraphLayoutEngine.java
index 1a8b7844e..04cd98992 100644
--- a/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.core/src/org/eclipse/elk/core/RecursiveGraphLayoutEngine.java
+++ b/plugins/org.eclipse.elk.core/src/org/eclipse/elk/core/RecursiveGraphLayoutEngine.java
@@ -255,6 +255,15 @@ protected List<ElkEdge> layoutRecursively(final ElkNode layoutNode, final TestCo
                                 ElkPadding padding = childNode.getProperty(CoreOptions.PADDING);
                                 childNode.setDimensions(Math.max(childNode.getWidth(), size.x + padding.left + padding.right),
                                         Math.max(childNode.getHeight(), size.y + padding.top + padding.bottom));
+                            } else {
+                                // If no approximator is set, use the set sizes for atomic nodes and use the properties
+                                // that have been set for nodes containing further children
+                                if (childNode.getChildren().size() != 0) {
+                                    childNode.setDimensions(
+                                            layoutNode.getProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH), 
+                                            layoutNode.getProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH) /
+                                            layoutNode.getProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO));
+                                }
                             }
                         }
                     }
diff --git a/test/org.eclipse.elk.alg.topdown.test/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/topdown/test/TopdownLayoutTest.java b/test/org.eclipse.elk.alg.topdown.test/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/topdown/test/TopdownLayoutTest.java
index 5a0081047..7aa5f959e 100644
--- a/test/org.eclipse.elk.alg.topdown.test/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/topdown/test/TopdownLayoutTest.java
+++ b/test/org.eclipse.elk.alg.topdown.test/src/org/eclipse/elk/alg/topdown/test/TopdownLayoutTest.java
@@ -1,5 +1,5 @@
 /*******************************************************************************
- * Copyright (c) 2022 Kiel University and others.
+ * Copyright (c) 2022-2024 Kiel University and others.
  * 
  * This program and the accompanying materials are made available under the
  * terms of the Eclipse Public License 2.0 which is available at
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ public void testTwoLevelLayoutHorizontalScaling() {
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.ALGORITHM, "org.eclipse.elk.fixed");
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.PADDING, new ElkPadding());
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.SPACING_NODE_NODE, 0.0);
-        // set size of node so that children will be scaled down
-        toplevel.setDimensions(20, 50);
+        // set size of node so that children will be scaled down 
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, 20.0);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, 0.4);
         
         ElkNode child1 = ElkGraphUtil.createNode(toplevel);
         child1.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, true);
@@ -105,7 +106,8 @@ public void testTwoLevelLayoutVerticalScaling() {
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.PADDING, new ElkPadding());
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.SPACING_NODE_NODE, 0.0);
         // set size of node so that children will be scaled down
-        toplevel.setDimensions(40, 30);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, 40.0);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, 1.33333);
         
         ElkNode child1 = ElkGraphUtil.createNode(toplevel);
         child1.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, true);
@@ -159,7 +161,8 @@ public void testScaleCap() {
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.PADDING, new ElkPadding());
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.SPACING_NODE_NODE, 0.0);
         // set size of node so that children will be scaled down
-        toplevel.setDimensions(300, 300);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, 300.0);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, 1.0);
         
         ElkNode child1 = ElkGraphUtil.createNode(toplevel);
         child1.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, true);
@@ -212,7 +215,8 @@ public void testScaleCapBounded() {
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.PADDING, new ElkPadding());
         toplevel.setProperty(CoreOptions.SPACING_NODE_NODE, 0.0);
         // set size of node so that children will be scaled down
-        toplevel.setDimensions(300, 300);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_WIDTH, 300.0);
+        graph.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_HIERARCHICAL_NODE_ASPECT_RATIO, 1.0);
         
         ElkNode child1 = ElkGraphUtil.createNode(toplevel);
         child1.setProperty(CoreOptions.TOPDOWN_LAYOUT, true);