diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index f923c8ca0fe3..55596e3eb59e 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -1492,13 +1492,13 @@ def plot_date(self, x, y, fmt='o', tz=None, xdate=True, ydate=False,
         if not self._hold:
             self.cla()
 
-        ret = self.plot(x, y, fmt, **kwargs)
-
         if xdate:
             self.xaxis_date(tz)
         if ydate:
             self.yaxis_date(tz)
 
+        ret = self.plot(x, y, fmt, **kwargs)
+
         self.autoscale_view()
 
         return ret
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..aee04d055421
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x_and_y.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x_and_y.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..b13dfc53953a
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_x_and_y.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_y.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_y.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..be77b5d0c8bc
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/date_timezone_y.png differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index 70b2ae7a019f..9e21a8ccebcf 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 
 import datetime
 
+import pytz
+
 import numpy as np
 from numpy import ma
 from numpy import arange
@@ -4335,6 +4337,55 @@ def test_pandas_indexing_hist():
     fig, axes = plt.subplots()
     axes.hist(ser_2)
 
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['date_timezone_x'], extensions=['png'])
+def test_date_timezone_x():
+    # Tests issue 5575
+    time_index = [pytz.timezone('Canada/Eastern').localize(datetime.datetime(
+        year=2016, month=2, day=22, hour=x)) for x in range(3)]
+
+    # Same Timezone
+    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(20, 12))
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 1)
+    plt.plot_date(time_index, [3] * 3, tz='Canada/Eastern')
+
+    # Different Timezone
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 2)
+    plt.plot_date(time_index, [3] * 3, tz='UTC')
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['date_timezone_y'],
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_date_timezone_y():
+    # Tests issue 5575
+    time_index = [pytz.timezone('Canada/Eastern').localize(datetime.datetime(
+        year=2016, month=2, day=22, hour=x)) for x in range(3)]
+
+    # Same Timezone
+    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(20, 12))
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 1)
+    plt.plot_date([3] * 3,
+                  time_index, tz='Canada/Eastern', xdate=False, ydate=True)
+
+    # Different Timezone
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 2)
+    plt.plot_date([3] * 3, time_index, tz='UTC', xdate=False, ydate=True)
+
+
+@image_comparison(baseline_images=['date_timezone_x_and_y'],
+                  extensions=['png'])
+def test_date_timezone_x_and_y():
+    # Tests issue 5575
+    time_index = [pytz.timezone('UTC').localize(datetime.datetime(
+        year=2016, month=2, day=22, hour=x)) for x in range(3)]
+
+    # Same Timezone
+    fig = plt.figure(figsize=(20, 12))
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 1)
+    plt.plot_date(time_index, time_index, tz='UTC', ydate=True)
+
+    # Different Timezone
+    plt.subplot(2, 1, 2)
+    plt.plot_date(time_index, time_index, tz='US/Eastern', ydate=True)
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
     import nose