diff --git a/doc/api/api_changes/2015-04-12_microsecondlocator.rst b/doc/api/api_changes/2015-04-12_microsecondlocator.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..d8366041c535
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/api_changes/2015-04-12_microsecondlocator.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,17 @@
+Removed `args` and `kwargs` from `MicrosecondLocator.__call__`
+``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
+
+The call signature of :meth:`~matplotlib.dates.MicrosecondLocator.__call__`
+has changed from `__call__(self, *args, **kwargs)` to `__call__(self)`.
+This is consistent with the super class :class:`~matplotlib.ticker.Locator`
+and also all the other Locators derived from this super class.
+
+
+No `ValueError` for the MicrosecondLocator and YearLocator
+``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````
+
+The :class:`~matplotlib.dates.MicrosecondLocator` and
+:class:`~matplotlib.dates.YearLocator` objects when called will return
+an empty list if the axes have no data or the view has no interval.
+Previously, they raised a `ValueError`. This is consistent with all
+the Date Locators.
diff --git a/doc/users/whats_new/datelocators.rst b/doc/users/whats_new/datelocators.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b894a323587d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/users/whats_new/datelocators.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+Date Locators
+-------------
+
+Date Locators (derived from :class:`~matplotlib.dates.DateLocator`) now
+implement the :meth:`~matplotlib.tickers.Locator.tick_values` method.
+This is expected of all Locators derived from :class:`~matplotlib.tickers.Locator`.
+
+The Date Locators can now be used easily without creating axes
+
+    from datetime import datetime
+    from matplotlib.dates import YearLocator
+    t0 = datetime(2002, 10, 9, 12, 10)
+    tf = datetime(2005, 10, 9, 12, 15)
+    loc = YearLocator()
+    values = loc.tick_values(t0, tf)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/dates.py b/lib/matplotlib/dates.py
index e3f480a0c139..33299be854e4 100755
--- a/lib/matplotlib/dates.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/dates.py
@@ -667,18 +667,21 @@ def __call__(self):
         except ValueError:
             return []
 
-        if dmin > dmax:
-            dmax, dmin = dmin, dmax
-        delta = relativedelta(dmax, dmin)
+        return self.tick_values(dmin, dmax)
+
+    def tick_values(self, vmin, vmax):
+        if vmin > vmax:
+            vmax, vmin = vmin, vmax
+        delta = relativedelta(vmax, vmin)
 
         # We need to cap at the endpoints of valid datetime
         try:
-            start = dmin - delta
+            start = vmin - delta
         except ValueError:
             start = _from_ordinalf(1.0)
 
         try:
-            stop = dmax + delta
+            stop = vmax + delta
         except ValueError:
             # The magic number!
             stop = _from_ordinalf(3652059.9999999)
@@ -688,19 +691,19 @@ def __call__(self):
         # estimate the number of ticks very approximately so we don't
         # have to do a very expensive (and potentially near infinite)
         # 'between' calculation, only to find out it will fail.
-        nmax, nmin = date2num((dmax, dmin))
+        nmax, nmin = date2num((vmax, vmin))
         estimate = (nmax - nmin) / (self._get_unit() * self._get_interval())
         # This estimate is only an estimate, so be really conservative
         # about bailing...
         if estimate > self.MAXTICKS * 2:
             raise RuntimeError(
                 'RRuleLocator estimated to generate %d ticks from %s to %s: '
-                'exceeds Locator.MAXTICKS * 2 (%d) ' % (estimate, dmin, dmax,
+                'exceeds Locator.MAXTICKS * 2 (%d) ' % (estimate, vmin, vmax,
                                                         self.MAXTICKS * 2))
 
-        dates = self.rule.between(dmin, dmax, True)
+        dates = self.rule.between(vmin, vmax, True)
         if len(dates) == 0:
-            return date2num([dmin, dmax])
+            return date2num([vmin, vmax])
         return self.raise_if_exceeds(date2num(dates))
 
     def _get_unit(self):
@@ -866,6 +869,9 @@ def __call__(self):
         self.refresh()
         return self._locator()
 
+    def tick_values(self, vmin, vmax):
+        return self.get_locator(vmin, vmax).tick_values(vmin, vmax)
+
     def nonsingular(self, vmin, vmax):
         # whatever is thrown at us, we can scale the unit.
         # But default nonsingular date plots at an ~4 year period.
@@ -1012,11 +1018,19 @@ def __init__(self, base=1, month=1, day=1, tz=None):
                          }
 
     def __call__(self):
-        dmin, dmax = self.viewlim_to_dt()
-        ymin = self.base.le(dmin.year)
-        ymax = self.base.ge(dmax.year)
+        # if no data have been set, this will tank with a ValueError
+        try:
+            dmin, dmax = self.viewlim_to_dt()
+        except ValueError:
+            return []
+
+        return self.tick_values(dmin, dmax)
+
+    def tick_values(self, vmin, vmax):
+        ymin = self.base.le(vmin.year)
+        ymax = self.base.ge(vmax.year)
 
-        ticks = [dmin.replace(year=ymin, **self.replaced)]
+        ticks = [vmin.replace(year=ymin, **self.replaced)]
         while 1:
             dt = ticks[-1]
             if dt.year >= ymax:
@@ -1184,11 +1198,20 @@ def set_data_interval(self, vmin, vmax):
         self._wrapped_locator.set_data_interval(vmin, vmax)
         return DateLocator.set_data_interval(self, vmin, vmax)
 
-    def __call__(self, *args, **kwargs):
-        vmin, vmax = self.axis.get_view_interval()
-        vmin *= MUSECONDS_PER_DAY
-        vmax *= MUSECONDS_PER_DAY
-        ticks = self._wrapped_locator.tick_values(vmin, vmax)
+    def __call__(self):
+        # if no data have been set, this will tank with a ValueError
+        try:
+            dmin, dmax = self.viewlim_to_dt()
+        except ValueError:
+            return []
+
+        return self.tick_values(dmin, dmax)
+
+    def tick_values(self, vmin, vmax):
+        nmin, nmax = date2num((vmin, vmax))
+        nmin *= MUSECONDS_PER_DAY
+        nmax *= MUSECONDS_PER_DAY
+        ticks = self._wrapped_locator.tick_values(nmin, nmax)
         ticks = [tick / MUSECONDS_PER_DAY for tick in ticks]
         return ticks