diff --git a/crates/bevy_ui/src/geometry.rs b/crates/bevy_ui/src/geometry.rs
index 63adc5015f04d..3acf78d2f4516 100644
--- a/crates/bevy_ui/src/geometry.rs
+++ b/crates/bevy_ui/src/geometry.rs
@@ -10,6 +10,16 @@ use bevy_reflect::{ReflectDeserialize, ReflectSerialize};
 ///
 /// This enum allows specifying values for various [`Node`](crate::Node) properties in different units,
 /// such as logical pixels, percentages, or automatically determined values.
+///
+/// `Val` also implements [`core::str::FromStr`] to allow parsing values from strings in the format `#.#px`. Whitespaces between the value and unit is allowed. The following units are supported:
+/// * `px`: logical pixels
+/// * `%`: percentage
+/// * `vw`: percentage of the viewport width
+/// * `vh`: percentage of the viewport height
+/// * `vmin`: percentage of the viewport's smaller dimension
+/// * `vmax`: percentage of the viewport's larger dimension
+///
+/// Additionally, `auto` will be parsed as [`Val::Auto`].
 #[derive(Copy, Clone, Debug, Reflect)]
 #[reflect(Default, PartialEq, Debug)]
 #[cfg_attr(
@@ -45,6 +55,70 @@ pub enum Val {
     VMax(f32),
 }
 
+#[derive(Debug, Error, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum ValParseError {
+    UnitMissing,
+    ValueMissing,
+    InvalidValue,
+    InvalidUnit,
+}
+
+impl core::fmt::Display for ValParseError {
+    fn fmt(&self, f: &mut core::fmt::Formatter<'_>) -> core::fmt::Result {
+        match self {
+            ValParseError::UnitMissing => write!(f, "unit missing"),
+            ValParseError::ValueMissing => write!(f, "value missing"),
+            ValParseError::InvalidValue => write!(f, "invalid value"),
+            ValParseError::InvalidUnit => write!(f, "invalid unit"),
+        }
+    }
+}
+
+impl core::str::FromStr for Val {
+    type Err = ValParseError;
+
+    fn from_str(s: &str) -> Result<Self, Self::Err> {
+        let s = s.trim();
+
+        if s.eq_ignore_ascii_case("auto") {
+            return Ok(Val::Auto);
+        }
+
+        let Some(end_of_number) = s
+            .bytes()
+            .position(|c| !(c.is_ascii_digit() || c == b'.' || c == b'-' || c == b'+'))
+        else {
+            return Err(ValParseError::UnitMissing);
+        };
+
+        if end_of_number == 0 {
+            return Err(ValParseError::ValueMissing);
+        }
+
+        let (value, unit) = s.split_at(end_of_number);
+
+        let value: f32 = value.parse().map_err(|_| ValParseError::InvalidValue)?;
+
+        let unit = unit.trim();
+
+        if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("px") {
+            Ok(Val::Px(value))
+        } else if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("%") {
+            Ok(Val::Percent(value))
+        } else if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("vw") {
+            Ok(Val::Vw(value))
+        } else if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("vh") {
+            Ok(Val::Vh(value))
+        } else if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("vmin") {
+            Ok(Val::VMin(value))
+        } else if unit.eq_ignore_ascii_case("vmax") {
+            Ok(Val::VMax(value))
+        } else {
+            Err(ValParseError::InvalidUnit)
+        }
+    }
+}
+
 impl PartialEq for Val {
     fn eq(&self, other: &Self) -> bool {
         let same_unit = matches!(
@@ -689,6 +763,60 @@ mod tests {
         );
     }
 
+    #[test]
+    fn val_str_parse() {
+        assert_eq!("auto".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Auto));
+        assert_eq!("Auto".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Auto));
+        assert_eq!("AUTO".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Auto));
+
+        assert_eq!("3px".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Px(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 px".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Px(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5px".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Px(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3px".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Px(-3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5 PX".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Px(3.5)));
+
+        assert_eq!("3%".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Percent(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 %".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Percent(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5%".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Percent(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3%".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Percent(-3.)));
+
+        assert_eq!("3vw".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vw(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 vw".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vw(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5vw".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vw(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3vw".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vw(-3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5 VW".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vw(3.5)));
+
+        assert_eq!("3vh".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vh(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 vh".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vh(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5vh".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vh(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3vh".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vh(-3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5 VH".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::Vh(3.5)));
+
+        assert_eq!("3vmin".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMin(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 vmin".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMin(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5vmin".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMin(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3vmin".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMin(-3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5 VMIN".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMin(3.5)));
+
+        assert_eq!("3vmax".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMax(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3 vmax".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMax(3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5vmax".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMax(3.5)));
+        assert_eq!("-3vmax".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMax(-3.)));
+        assert_eq!("3.5 VMAX".parse::<Val>(), Ok(Val::VMax(3.5)));
+
+        assert_eq!("".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::UnitMissing));
+        assert_eq!(
+            "hello world".parse::<Val>(),
+            Err(ValParseError::ValueMissing)
+        );
+        assert_eq!("3".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::UnitMissing));
+        assert_eq!("3.5".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::UnitMissing));
+        assert_eq!("3pxx".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::InvalidUnit));
+        assert_eq!("3.5pxx".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::InvalidUnit));
+        assert_eq!("3-3px".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::InvalidValue));
+        assert_eq!("3.5-3px".parse::<Val>(), Err(ValParseError::InvalidValue));
+    }
+
     #[test]
     fn default_val_equals_const_default_val() {
         assert_eq!(Val::default(), Val::DEFAULT);