diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index e68ed2515239..7716eff37a9a 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -799,7 +799,9 @@ def subplots(nrows=1, ncols=1, sharex=False, sharey=False, squeeze=True,
             ret = fig, axarr[0,0]
         else:
             ret = fig, axarr.squeeze()
-
+    else:
+        # returned axis array will be always 2-d, even if nrows=ncols=1
+        ret = fig, axarr.reshape(nrows, ncols)
 
     return ret