diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 34c4023a256e..fdafc2dcb0bc 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -1006,14 +1006,14 @@ def axhspan(self, ymin, ymax, xmin=0, xmax=1, **kwargs):
 
         Returns
         -------
-        `~matplotlib.patches.Polygon`
+        `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle`
             Horizontal span (rectangle) from (xmin, ymin) to (xmax, ymax).
 
         Other Parameters
         ----------------
-        **kwargs : `~matplotlib.patches.Polygon` properties
+        **kwargs : `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle` properties
 
-        %(Polygon:kwdoc)s
+        %(Rectangle:kwdoc)s
 
         See Also
         --------
@@ -1061,14 +1061,14 @@ def axvspan(self, xmin, xmax, ymin=0, ymax=1, **kwargs):
 
         Returns
         -------
-        `~matplotlib.patches.Polygon`
+        `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle`
             Vertical span (rectangle) from (xmin, ymin) to (xmax, ymax).
 
         Other Parameters
         ----------------
-        **kwargs : `~matplotlib.patches.Polygon` properties
+        **kwargs : `~matplotlib.patches.Rectangle` properties
 
-        %(Polygon:kwdoc)s
+        %(Rectangle:kwdoc)s
 
         See Also
         --------
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
index b70d330aa442..76aaee77aff8 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.pyi
@@ -155,10 +155,10 @@ class Axes(_AxesBase):
     ) -> AxLine: ...
     def axhspan(
         self, ymin: float, ymax: float, xmin: float = ..., xmax: float = ..., **kwargs
-    ) -> Polygon: ...
+    ) -> Rectangle: ...
     def axvspan(
         self, xmin: float, xmax: float, ymin: float = ..., ymax: float = ..., **kwargs
-    ) -> Polygon: ...
+    ) -> Rectangle: ...
     def hlines(
         self,
         y: float | ArrayLike,
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
index 7f8d0bbc6e7f..8fe8b000bf49 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/pyplot.py
@@ -2870,7 +2870,7 @@ def axhline(y: float = 0, xmin: float = 0, xmax: float = 1, **kwargs) -> Line2D:
 @_copy_docstring_and_deprecators(Axes.axhspan)
 def axhspan(
     ymin: float, ymax: float, xmin: float = 0, xmax: float = 1, **kwargs
-) -> Polygon:
+) -> Rectangle:
     return gca().axhspan(ymin, ymax, xmin=xmin, xmax=xmax, **kwargs)
 
 
@@ -2908,7 +2908,7 @@ def axvline(x: float = 0, ymin: float = 0, ymax: float = 1, **kwargs) -> Line2D:
 @_copy_docstring_and_deprecators(Axes.axvspan)
 def axvspan(
     xmin: float, xmax: float, ymin: float = 0, ymax: float = 1, **kwargs
-) -> Polygon:
+) -> Rectangle:
     return gca().axvspan(xmin, xmax, ymin=ymin, ymax=ymax, **kwargs)