diff --git a/doc/users/next_whats_new/2019-11-29-pyplot-ticks-labels.rst b/doc/users/next_whats_new/2019-11-29-pyplot-ticks-labels.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..da34b368bd74
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/next_whats_new/2019-11-29-pyplot-ticks-labels.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+ticks' labels can now be set without passing ``ticks`` in pyplot
+----------------------------------------------------------------
+
+``pyplot.xticks()`` and ``pyplot.yticks()`` can now be used to set ticks'
+labels without requiring to pass the ``ticks`` parameter.
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 3a08cec7ad1c..3eb7a1b16400 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -1428,15 +1428,16 @@ def xticks(ticks=None, labels=None, **kwargs):
     """
     ax = gca()
 
-    if ticks is None and labels is None:
+    if ticks is None:
         locs = ax.get_xticks()
-        labels = ax.get_xticklabels()
-    elif labels is None:
+    else:
         locs = ax.set_xticks(ticks)
+
+    if labels is None:
         labels = ax.get_xticklabels()
     else:
-        locs = ax.set_xticks(ticks)
         labels = ax.set_xticklabels(labels, **kwargs)
+
     for l in labels:
         l.update(kwargs)
 
@@ -1503,15 +1504,16 @@ def yticks(ticks=None, labels=None, **kwargs):
     """
     ax = gca()
 
-    if ticks is None and labels is None:
+    if ticks is None:
         locs = ax.get_yticks()
-        labels = ax.get_yticklabels()
-    elif labels is None:
+    else:
         locs = ax.set_yticks(ticks)
+
+    if labels is None:
         labels = ax.get_yticklabels()
     else:
-        locs = ax.set_yticks(ticks)
         labels = ax.set_yticklabels(labels, **kwargs)
+
     for l in labels:
         l.update(kwargs)