diff --git a/doc/notebooks/gates.ipynb b/doc/notebooks/gates.ipynb
index 5b9fff8a..dc3ee542 100644
--- a/doc/notebooks/gates.ipynb
+++ b/doc/notebooks/gates.ipynb
@@ -141,7 +141,7 @@
     "draw_zx_diagram(1, 'rz(0.125*pi) q;')  # can also use 'p' or 'u1'\n",
     "\n",
     "draw_zx_diagram(1, 'u2(0.125*pi,0.125*pi) q[0];')\n",
-    "draw_zx_diagram(1, 'u3(0.125*pi,0.125*pi,0.125*pi) q[0];')"
+    "draw_zx_diagram(1, 'u3(0.125*pi,0.125*pi,0.125*pi) q[0];')  # can also use 'u'"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/pyzx/circuit/gates.py b/pyzx/circuit/gates.py
index 000c017c..a0be7ebe 100644
--- a/pyzx/circuit/gates.py
+++ b/pyzx/circuit/gates.py
@@ -1251,6 +1251,7 @@ def to_graph(self, g, q_mapper, c_mapper):
     "CCZ": CCZ,
     "U2": U2,
     "U3": U3,
+    "U": U3,
     "CU3": CU3,
     "CU": CU,
     "CRX": CRX,
@@ -1285,7 +1286,8 @@ def to_graph(self, g, q_mapper, c_mapper):
     "p": ZPhase,
     "u1": ZPhase,
     "u2": U2,
-    "u3": U3,
+    "u3": U3,  # needed for backwards compatibility with older versions of qiskit
+    "u": U3,
     "cu3": CU3,
     "cu": CU,
     "cx": CNOT,
diff --git a/pyzx/circuit/qasmparser.py b/pyzx/circuit/qasmparser.py
index b524c795..81fdaf27 100644
--- a/pyzx/circuit/qasmparser.py
+++ b/pyzx/circuit/qasmparser.py
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@
 from typing import List, Dict, Tuple, Optional
 
 from . import Circuit
-from .gates import Gate, qasm_gate_table, XPhase, YPhase, ZPhase, NOT, U2, U3
+from .gates import Gate, qasm_gate_table, U2, U3
 from ..utils import settings
 
 
@@ -193,7 +193,7 @@ def parse_command(self, c: str, registers: Dict[str,Tuple[int,int]]) -> List[Gat
             elif name == 'u2':
                 if len(phases) != 2: raise TypeError("Invalid specification {}".format(c))
                 gates.append(U2(argset[0],phases[0],phases[1]))
-            elif name == 'u3':
+            elif name in ('u3', 'u'):
                 if len(phases) != 3: raise TypeError("Invalid specification {}".format(c))
                 gates.append(U3(argset[0],phases[0],phases[1],phases[2]))
             elif name in ('cx', 'CX', 'cy', 'cz', 'ch', 'csx', 'swap'):
diff --git a/tests/test_qasm.py b/tests/test_qasm.py
index 0ec91ea2..4540644d 100644
--- a/tests/test_qasm.py
+++ b/tests/test_qasm.py
@@ -211,6 +211,7 @@ def compare_gate_matrix_with_qiskit(gates, num_qubits: int, num_angles: int, qas
 
         # Test standard gates added to OpenQASM 3.
         compare_gate_matrix_with_qiskit(['cphase'], 2, 1, [3])
+        compare_gate_matrix_with_qiskit(['u3', 'u'], 1, 3, [3])
 
         # Test standard gates removed from OpenQASM 3.
         compare_gate_matrix_with_qiskit(['sxdg'], 1, 0, [2])