diff --git a/doc/examples/plot_rag.py b/doc/examples/plot_rag.py
index b26a266d..f360af52 100644
--- a/doc/examples/plot_rag.py
+++ b/doc/examples/plot_rag.py
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ display(g, "Original Graph")
 g.merge_nodes(1, 3)
 display(g, "Merged with default (min)")
 
-gc.merge_nodes(1, 3, weight_func=max_edge)
-display(gc, "Merged with max")
+gc.merge_nodes(1, 3, weight_func=max_edge, in_place=False)
+display(gc, "Merged with max without in_place")
 
 plt.show()
diff --git a/skimage/graph/rag.py b/skimage/graph/rag.py
index 5995fb5d..81b3c0d6 100644
--- a/skimage/graph/rag.py
+++ b/skimage/graph/rag.py
@@ -59,9 +59,18 @@ class RAG(nx.Graph):
     `networx.Graph <http://networkx.github.io/documentation/latest/reference/classes.graph.html>`_
     """
 
-    def merge_nodes(self, src, dst, weight_func=min_weight, extra_arguments=[],
-                    extra_keywords={}):
-        """Merge node `src` into `dst`.
+    def __init__(self, data=None, **attr):
+
+        super(RAG, self).__init__(data, **attr)
+        try:
+            self.max_id = max(self.nodes_iter())
+        except ValueError:
+            # Empty sequence
+            self.max_id = 0
+
+    def merge_nodes(self, src, dst, weight_func=min_weight, in_place=True,
+                    extra_arguments=[], extra_keywords={}):
+        """Merge node `src` and `dst`.
 
         The new combined node is adjacent to all the neighbors of `src`
         and `dst`. `weight_func` is called to decide the weight of edges
@@ -78,25 +87,83 @@ class RAG(nx.Graph):
             **extra_keywords)`. `src`, `dst` and `n` are IDs of vertices in the
             RAG object which is in turn a subclass of
             `networkx.Graph`.
+        in_place : bool, optional
+            If set to `True`, the merged node has the id `dst`, else merged
+            node has a new id which is returned.
         extra_arguments : sequence, optional
             The sequence of extra positional arguments passed to
             `weight_func`.
         extra_keywords : dictionary, optional
             The dict of keyword arguments passed to the `weight_func`.
 
+        Returns
+        -------
+        id : int
+            The id of the new node.
+
+        Notes
+        -----
+        If `in_place` is `False` the resulting node has a new id, rather than
+        `dst`.
         """
         src_nbrs = set(self.neighbors(src))
         dst_nbrs = set(self.neighbors(dst))
-        neighbors = (src_nbrs & dst_nbrs) - set([src, dst])
+        neighbors = (src_nbrs | dst_nbrs) - set([src, dst])
+
+        if in_place:
+            new = dst
+        else:
+            new = self.next_id()
+            self.add_node(new)
 
         for neighbor in neighbors:
-            w = weight_func(self, src, dst, neighbor, *extra_arguments,
+            w = weight_func(self, src, new, neighbor, *extra_arguments,
                             **extra_keywords)
-            self.add_edge(neighbor, dst, weight=w)
+            self.add_edge(neighbor, new, weight=w)
 
-        self.node[dst]['labels'] += self.node[src]['labels']
+        self.node[new]['labels'] = (self.node[src]['labels'] +
+                                    self.node[dst]['labels'])
         self.remove_node(src)
 
+        if not in_place:
+            self.remove_node(dst)
+
+        return new
+
+    def add_node(self, n, attr_dict=None, **attr):
+        """Add node `n` while updating the maximum node id.
+
+        .. seealso:: :func:`networkx.Graph.add_node`."""
+        super(RAG, self).add_node(n, attr_dict, **attr)
+        self.max_id = max(n, self.max_id)
+
+    def add_edge(self, u, v, attr_dict=None, **attr):
+        """Add an edge between `u` and `v` while updating max node id.
+
+        .. seealso:: :func:`networkx.Graph.add_edge`."""
+        super(RAG, self).add_edge(u, v, attr_dict, **attr)
+        self.max_id = max(u, v, self.max_id)
+
+    def copy(self):
+        """Copy the graph with its max node id.
+
+        .. seealso:: :func:`networkx.Graph.copy`."""
+        g = super(RAG, self).copy()
+        g.max_id = self.max_id
+        return g
+
+    def next_id(self):
+        """Returns the `id` for the new node to be inserted.
+
+        The current implementation returns one more than the maximum `id`.
+
+        Returns
+        -------
+        id : int
+            The `id` of the new node to be inserted.
+        """
+        return self.max_id + 1
+
 
 def _add_edge_filter(values, graph):
     """Create edge in `g` between the first element of `values` and the rest.
diff --git a/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py b/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
index 26f5a85c..35eb5c38 100644
--- a/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
+++ b/skimage/graph/tests/test_rag.py
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ def test_rag_merge():
 
     g.merge_nodes(1, 4)
     g.merge_nodes(2, 3)
-    g.merge_nodes(3, 4)
-    assert sorted(g.node[4]['labels']) == list(range(5))
+    n = g.merge_nodes(3, 4, in_place=False)
+    assert sorted(g.node[n]['labels']) == list(range(5))
     assert g.edges() == []