diff --git a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/plot.py b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/plot.py
index <HASH>..<HASH> 100644
--- a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/plot.py
+++ b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/plot.py
@@ -164,6 +164,7 @@ class MPLPlot(DimensionedPlot):
                               bbox_transform=axis.transAxes)
             at.patch.set_visible(False)
             axis.add_artist(at)
+            self.handles['sublabel'] = at.txt.get_children()[0]
 
 
     def _finalize_axis(self, key):
Added sublabel to plot handles in mpl backend