diff --git a/src/sage/graphs/domination.py b/src/sage/graphs/domination.py
index 0dcab74e90c..7f631fcfe28 100644
--- a/src/sage/graphs/domination.py
+++ b/src/sage/graphs/domination.py
@@ -17,6 +17,7 @@
     :meth:`~is_redundant` | Check whether a set of vertices has redundant vertices (with respect to domination).
     :meth:`~private_neighbors` | Return the private neighbors of a vertex with respect to other vertices.
     :meth:`~greedy_dominating_set` | Return a greedy distance-`k` dominating set of the graph.
+    :meth:`~maximum_leaf_number` | Return the maximum leaf number of the graph.
 
 
 EXAMPLES:
@@ -1284,3 +1285,81 @@ def greedy_dominating_set(G, k=1, vertices=None, ordering=None, return_sets=Fals
         return dom
     else:
         return list(dom)
+
+
+def maximum_leaf_number(G, solver=None, verbose=0, integrality_tolerance=1e-3):
+    r"""
+    Return the maximum leaf number of the graph.
+
+    The maximum leaf number is the maximum possible number of leaves of a
+    spanning tree of `G`. This is also the cardinality of the complement of a
+    minimum connected dominating set.
+    See the :wikipedia:`Connected_dominating_set`.
+
+    The MLN of a graph with less than 2 vertices is 0, while the MLN of a connected
+    graph with 2 or 3 vertices is 1 or 2 respectively.
+
+    INPUT:
+
+    - ``G`` -- a Graph
+
+    - ``solver`` -- string (default: ``None``); specify a Mixed Integer Linear
+      Programming (MILP) solver to be used. If set to ``None``, the default one
+      is used. For more information on MILP solvers and which default solver is
+      used, see the method :meth:`solve
+      <sage.numerical.mip.MixedIntegerLinearProgram.solve>` of the class
+      :class:`MixedIntegerLinearProgram
+      <sage.numerical.mip.MixedIntegerLinearProgram>`.
+
+    - ``verbose`` -- integer (default: ``0``); sets the level of verbosity. Set
+      to 0 by default, which means quiet.
+
+    - ``integrality_tolerance`` -- float; parameter for use with MILP solvers
+      over an inexact base ring; see
+      :meth:`MixedIntegerLinearProgram.get_values`.
+
+    EXAMPLES:
+
+    Empty graph::
+
+        sage: G = Graph()
+        sage: G.maximum_leaf_number()
+        0
+
+    Petersen graph::
+
+        sage: G = graphs.PetersenGraph()
+        sage: G.maximum_leaf_number()
+        6
+
+    TESTS:
+
+    One vertex::
+
+        sage: G = Graph(1)
+        sage: G.maximum_leaf_number()
+        0
+
+    Two vertices::
+
+        sage: G = graphs.PathGraph(2)
+        sage: G.maximum_leaf_number()
+        1
+
+    Unconnected graph::
+
+        sage: G = Graph(2)
+        sage: G.maximum_leaf_number()
+        Traceback (most recent call last):
+        ...
+        ValueError: the graph must be connected
+    """
+    if G.order() <= 1:
+        return 0
+    if not G.is_connected():
+        raise ValueError('the graph must be connected')
+    if G.order() <= 3:
+        return G.order() - 1
+    return G.order() - dominating_set(G, connected=True, value_only=True,
+                                      solver=solver, verbose=verbose,
+                                      integrality_tolerance=integrality_tolerance)
diff --git a/src/sage/graphs/generic_graph.py b/src/sage/graphs/generic_graph.py
index a99aa1d5a64..a9129a62e7d 100644
--- a/src/sage/graphs/generic_graph.py
+++ b/src/sage/graphs/generic_graph.py
@@ -315,6 +315,7 @@
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.disjoint_routed_paths` | Return a set of disjoint routed paths.
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.dominating_set` | Return a minimum dominating set of the graph
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.greedy_dominating_set` | Return a greedy distance-`k` dominating set of the graph.
+    :meth:`~GenericGraph.maximum_leaf_number` | Return the maximum leaf number of the graph.
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.subgraph_search` | Return a copy of ``G`` in ``self``.
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.subgraph_search_count` | Return the number of labelled occurrences of ``G`` in ``self``.
     :meth:`~GenericGraph.subgraph_search_iterator` | Return an iterator over the labelled copies of ``G`` in ``self``.
@@ -24407,6 +24408,7 @@ def is_self_complementary(self):
     from sage.graphs.domination import dominating_sets
     from sage.graphs.domination import dominating_set
     from sage.graphs.domination import greedy_dominating_set
+    from sage.graphs.domination import maximum_leaf_number
     from sage.graphs.base.static_dense_graph import connected_subgraph_iterator
     rooted_product = LazyImport('sage.graphs.graph_decompositions.graph_products', 'rooted_product')
     from sage.graphs.path_enumeration import shortest_simple_paths