numpy · seberg · Aug 20, 2025 · Aug 5, 2025 · Aug 5, 2025 · Aug 6, 2025
diff --git a/doc/release/upcoming_changes/29052.deprecation.rst b/doc/release/upcoming_changes/29052.deprecation.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,10 @@
+Positional ``out`` argument to `np.maximum`, `np.minimum` is deprecated
+-----------------------------------------------------------------------
+Passing the output array ``out`` positionally to `numpy.maximum` and
+`numpy.minimum` is deprecated. For example, ``np.maximum(a, b, c)`` will
+emit a deprecation warning, since ``c`` is treated as the output buffer
+rather than a third input.
+
+Always pass the output with the keyword form, e.g.
+``np.maximum(a, b, out=c)``. This makes intent clear and simplifies
+type annotations.
diff --git a/numpy/_core/src/umath/ufunc_object.c b/numpy/_core/src/umath/ufunc_object.c
@@ -65,6 +65,7 @@
 #include "mapping.h"
 #include "npy_static_data.h"
 #include "multiarraymodule.h"
+#include "number.h"
 
 /********** PRINTF DEBUG TRACING **************/
 #define NPY_UF_DBG_TRACING 0
@@ -4368,6 +4369,21 @@ ufunc_generic_fastcall(PyUFuncObject *ufunc,
             Py_INCREF(tmp);
             PyTuple_SET_ITEM(full_args.out, i-nin, tmp);
         }
+
+        /* Extra positional args but no keywords */
+        /* DEPRECATED NumPy 2.4, 2025-08 */
+        if ((PyObject *)ufunc == n_ops.maximum || (PyObject *)ufunc == n_ops.minimum) {
+
+            if (DEPRECATE(
+                "Passing more than 2 positional arguments to np.maximum and np.minimum "
+                "is deprecated. If you meant to use the third argument as an output, " 
+                "use the `out` keyword argument instead. If you hoped to work with "
+                "more than 2 inputs, combine them into a single array and get the extrema "
+                "for the relevant axis.") < 0) {
+                return NULL;
+            }
+        }
+
         if (all_none) {
             Py_SETREF(full_args.out, NULL);
         }

diff --git a/numpy/_core/tests/test_deprecations.py b/numpy/_core/tests/test_deprecations.py
@@ -535,3 +535,12 @@ def use_suppress_warnings():
                 sup.filter(RuntimeWarning, 'invalid value encountered in divide')
 
         self.assert_deprecated(use_suppress_warnings)
+
+
+class TestTooManyArgsExtremum(_DeprecationTestCase):
+    # Deprecated in Numpy 2.4, 2025-08, gh-27639
+    message = "Passing more than 2 positional arguments to np.maximum and np.minimum "
+
+    @pytest.mark.parametrize("ufunc", [np.minimum, np.maximum])
+    def test_extremem_3_args(self, ufunc):
+        self.assert_deprecated(ufunc, args=(np.ones(1), np.zeros(1), np.empty(1)))