A method for automatic correction of drift-distorted surface images obtained using a scanning probe microscope is developed. For the case of slowly varying drifts, simple linear transformations describing the observed distortions are constructed. One or two pairs of counter-scanned images (CSIs) are used as initial data. A system of linear equations is solved by finding the coordinate of the same surface feature in each CSI. The solutions obtained, i.e., linear transformation coefficients, are used to correct drift-induced distortions in horizontal and vertical planes. Two nonlinear drift correction methods are proposed, which provide a better accuracy in comparison with the linear correction method. The developed method can be used in feature-oriented scanning of the surface.