diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axis.py b/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
index 3c00d5e7176a..dae28e6d94cd 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axis.py
@@ -1938,12 +1938,30 @@ def set_ticks_position(self, position):
         self.stale = True
 
     def tick_top(self):
-        'use ticks only on top'
+        """
+        Move ticks and ticklabels (if present) to the top of the axes.
+        """
+        label = True
+        if 'label1On' in self._major_tick_kw:
+            label = (self._major_tick_kw['label1On']
+                     or self._major_tick_kw['label2On'])
         self.set_ticks_position('top')
+        # if labels were turned off before this was called
+        # leave them off
+        self.set_tick_params(which='both', labeltop=label)
 
     def tick_bottom(self):
-        'use ticks only on bottom'
+        """
+        Move ticks and ticklabels (if present) to the bottom of the axes.
+        """
+        label = True
+        if 'label1On' in self._major_tick_kw:
+            label = (self._major_tick_kw['label1On']
+                     or self._major_tick_kw['label2On'])
         self.set_ticks_position('bottom')
+        # if labels were turned off before this was called
+        # leave them off
+        self.set_tick_params(which='both', labelbottom=label)
 
     def get_ticks_position(self):
         """
@@ -2274,12 +2292,30 @@ def set_ticks_position(self, position):
         self.stale = True
 
     def tick_right(self):
-        'use ticks only on right'
+        """
+        Move ticks and ticklabels (if present) to the right of the axes.
+        """
+        label = True
+        if 'label1On' in self._major_tick_kw:
+            label = (self._major_tick_kw['label1On']
+                     or self._major_tick_kw['label2On'])
         self.set_ticks_position('right')
+        # if labels were turned off before this was called
+        # leave them off
+        self.set_tick_params(which='both', labelright=label)
 
     def tick_left(self):
-        'use ticks only on left'
+        """
+        Move ticks and ticklabels (if present) to the left of the axes.
+        """
+        label = True
+        if 'label1On' in self._major_tick_kw:
+            label = (self._major_tick_kw['label1On']
+                     or self._major_tick_kw['label2On'])
         self.set_ticks_position('left')
+        # if labels were turned off before this was called
+        # leave them off
+        self.set_tick_params(which='both', labelleft=label)
 
     def get_ticks_position(self):
         """
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_subplots.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_subplots.py
index b6a464051ff2..3546d8d66c7c 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_subplots.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_subplots.py
@@ -101,6 +101,20 @@ def test_shared():
     check_visible(axs, [False, False, True, True], [True, False, True, False])
 
 
+def test_shared_and_moved():
+    # test if sharey is on, but then tick_left is called that labels don't
+    # re-appear.  Seaborn does this just to be sure yaxis is on left...
+    f, (a1, a2) = plt.subplots(1, 2, sharey=True)
+    check_visible([a2], [True], [False])
+    a2.yaxis.tick_left()
+    check_visible([a2], [True], [False])
+
+    f, (a1, a2) = plt.subplots(2, 1, sharex=True)
+    check_visible([a1], [False], [True])
+    a2.xaxis.tick_bottom()
+    check_visible([a1], [False], [True])
+
+
 def test_exceptions():
     # TODO should this test more options?
     with pytest.raises(ValueError):