A method for learning depth-aware keypoints and associated descriptors from monocular video for ego-motion estimation is described. The method includes training a keypoint network and a depth network to learn depth-aware keypoints and the associated descriptors. The training is based on a target image and a context image from successive images of the monocular video. The method also includes lifting 2D keypoints from the target image to learn 3D keypoints based on a learned depth map from the depth network. The method further includes estimating ego-motion from the target image to the context image based on the learned 3D keypoints.