diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
index 12142b6edc04..2136015cf1b1 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_ticker.py
@@ -859,6 +859,22 @@ def test_set_use_offset_float(self):
         assert not tmp_form.get_useOffset()
         assert tmp_form.offset == 0.5
 
+    def test_set_use_offset_bool(self):
+        tmp_form = mticker.ScalarFormatter()
+        tmp_form.set_useOffset(True)
+        assert tmp_form.get_useOffset()
+        assert tmp_form.offset == 0
+
+        tmp_form.set_useOffset(False)
+        assert not tmp_form.get_useOffset()
+        assert tmp_form.offset == 0
+
+    def test_set_use_offset_int(self):
+        tmp_form = mticker.ScalarFormatter()
+        tmp_form.set_useOffset(1)
+        assert not tmp_form.get_useOffset()
+        assert tmp_form.offset == 1
+
     def test_use_locale(self):
         conv = locale.localeconv()
         sep = conv['thousands_sep']
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py b/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
index 231479092461..4eb9a2e66c01 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/ticker.py
@@ -510,7 +510,7 @@ def set_useOffset(self, val):
         will be formatted as ``0, 2, 4, 6, 8`` plus an offset ``+1e5``, which
         is written to the edge of the axis.
         """
-        if val in [True, False]:
+        if isinstance(val, bool):
             self.offset = 0
             self._useOffset = val
         else: