Described is a microscope objective (10, 100, 200) having an objective housing (12) which contains a lens system including a lens unit (60) capable of being moved along the optical axis (O) of the lens system to compensate for the thickness of the coverslip, and further having an adjusting device for adjusting the lens unit (60), said adjusting device including a drive unit (14, 102, 202) and a transmission (42, 44, 46, 48, 50, 52, 54, 56, 62) which is drivable by the drive unit (14, 102, 202) and coupled to the lens unit (60). According to the present invention, the drive unit (14, 102, 202) has a motor (34) and is mounted on the objective housing (12).