diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
index 77620aec1117..216b77be9bf6 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_base.py
@@ -2883,7 +2883,9 @@ def set_xticklabels(self, labels, fontdict=None, minor=False, **kwargs):
 
         ACCEPTS: sequence of strings
         """
-        ret = self.xaxis.set_ticklabels(labels, fontdict,
+        if fontdict is not None:
+            kwargs.update(fontdict)
+        ret = self.xaxis.set_ticklabels(labels,
                                         minor=minor, **kwargs)
         self.stale = True
         return ret
@@ -3143,7 +3145,9 @@ def set_yticklabels(self, labels, fontdict=None, minor=False, **kwargs):
 
         ACCEPTS: sequence of strings
         """
-        return self.yaxis.set_ticklabels(labels, fontdict,
+        if fontdict is not None:
+            kwargs.update(fontdict)
+        return self.yaxis.set_ticklabels(labels,
                                          minor=minor, **kwargs)
 
     def xaxis_date(self, tz=None):