High-temperature crystal structure of the layered cuprates Ln 2 CuO 4 , Ln=Pr, Nd and Sm with tetragonal T'-structure was refined using X-ray powder diffraction data. Substantial anisotropy of the thermal expansion behavior was observed in their crystal structures with thermal expansion coefficients (TEC) along a-and c-axes changing from TEC(a)/TEC(c)≈1.37 (Pr)