diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-08-08-TH b/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-08-08-TH
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d16574b14106
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-08-08-TH
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Deprecations
+````````````
+Using the parameter ``minor`` to ``get_*ticks()`` / ``set_*ticks()`` as a
+positional parameter is deprecated. It will become keyword-only in future
+versions.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index 6d34272b96fc..841ffd3042cf 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -3265,10 +3265,12 @@ def set_xscale(self, value, **kwargs):
             ax.stale = True
         self._request_autoscale_view(scaley=False)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def get_xticks(self, minor=False):
         """Return the x ticks as a list of locations"""
         return self.xaxis.get_ticklocs(minor=minor)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def set_xticks(self, ticks, minor=False):
         """
         Set the x ticks with list of *ticks*
@@ -3645,10 +3647,12 @@ def set_yscale(self, value, **kwargs):
             ax.stale = True
         self._request_autoscale_view(scalex=False)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def get_yticks(self, minor=False):
         """Return the y ticks as a list of locations"""
         return self.yaxis.get_ticklocs(minor=minor)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def set_yticks(self, ticks, minor=False):
         """
         Set the y ticks with list of *ticks*
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_secondary_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_secondary_axes.py
index 01f378846ab2..54ccb95118d1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_secondary_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_secondary_axes.py
@@ -161,6 +161,7 @@ def apply_aspect(self, position=None):
         self._set_lims()
         super().apply_aspect(position)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def set_ticks(self, ticks, minor=False):
         """
         Set the x ticks with list of *ticks*
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axis.py b/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
index 1049f4f517b8..2feb56593d2f 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
@@ -1753,6 +1753,7 @@ def set_ticklabels(self, ticklabels, *args, minor=False, **kwargs):
         self.stale = True
         return ret
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def set_ticks(self, ticks, minor=False):
         """
         Set the locations of the tick marks from sequence ticks
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py
index b80c80940420..74fdfbee22c5 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axes3d.py
@@ -853,6 +853,7 @@ def set_zticks(self, *args, **kwargs):
         """
         return self.zaxis.set_ticks(*args, **kwargs)
 
+    @cbook._make_keyword_only("3.2", "minor")
     def get_zticks(self, minor=False):
         """
         Return the z ticks as a list of locations