diff --git a/benchmarks/bench_isotonic.py b/benchmarks/bench_isotonic.py
index 556c452fa3323..be2ff6548cb92 100644
--- a/benchmarks/bench_isotonic.py
+++ b/benchmarks/bench_isotonic.py
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 
 import argparse
 import gc
-from datetime import datetime
+from timeit import default_timer
 
 import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
 import numpy as np
@@ -52,9 +52,9 @@ def bench_isotonic_regression(Y):
     """
     gc.collect()
 
-    tstart = datetime.now()
+    tstart = default_timer()
     isotonic_regression(Y)
-    return (datetime.now() - tstart).total_seconds()
+    return default_timer() - tstart
 
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
diff --git a/sklearn/isotonic.py b/sklearn/isotonic.py
index 04456b1763791..f1c7f48966946 100644
--- a/sklearn/isotonic.py
+++ b/sklearn/isotonic.py
@@ -8,13 +8,14 @@
 from numbers import Real
 
 import numpy as np
-from scipy import interpolate
+from scipy import interpolate, optimize
 from scipy.stats import spearmanr
 
 from ._isotonic import _inplace_contiguous_isotonic_regression, _make_unique
 from .base import BaseEstimator, RegressorMixin, TransformerMixin, _fit_context
 from .utils import check_array, check_consistent_length
 from .utils._param_validation import Interval, StrOptions, validate_params
+from .utils.fixes import parse_version, sp_base_version
 from .utils.validation import _check_sample_weight, check_is_fitted
 
 __all__ = ["check_increasing", "isotonic_regression", "IsotonicRegression"]
@@ -151,13 +152,22 @@ def isotonic_regression(
     array([2.75   , 2.75   , 2.75   , 2.75   , 7.33...,
            7.33..., 7.33..., 7.33..., 7.33..., 7.33...])
     """
-    order = np.s_[:] if increasing else np.s_[::-1]
     y = check_array(y, ensure_2d=False, input_name="y", dtype=[np.float64, np.float32])
-    y = np.array(y[order], dtype=y.dtype)
-    sample_weight = _check_sample_weight(sample_weight, y, dtype=y.dtype, copy=True)
-    sample_weight = np.ascontiguousarray(sample_weight[order])
+    if sp_base_version >= parse_version("1.12.0"):
+        res = optimize.isotonic_regression(
+            y=y, weights=sample_weight, increasing=increasing
+        )
+        y = np.asarray(res.x, dtype=y.dtype)
+    else:
+        # TODO: remove this branch when Scipy 1.12 is the minimum supported version
+        # Also remove _inplace_contiguous_isotonic_regression.
+        order = np.s_[:] if increasing else np.s_[::-1]
+        y = np.array(y[order], dtype=y.dtype)
+        sample_weight = _check_sample_weight(sample_weight, y, dtype=y.dtype, copy=True)
+        sample_weight = np.ascontiguousarray(sample_weight[order])
+        _inplace_contiguous_isotonic_regression(y, sample_weight)
+        y = y[order]
 
-    _inplace_contiguous_isotonic_regression(y, sample_weight)
     if y_min is not None or y_max is not None:
         # Older versions of np.clip don't accept None as a bound, so use np.inf
         if y_min is None:
@@ -165,7 +175,7 @@ def isotonic_regression(
         if y_max is None:
             y_max = np.inf
         np.clip(y, y_min, y_max, y)
-    return y[order]
+    return y
 
 
 class IsotonicRegression(RegressorMixin, TransformerMixin, BaseEstimator):
diff --git a/sklearn/tests/test_isotonic.py b/sklearn/tests/test_isotonic.py
index 93df0221236b8..90598b48f6434 100644
--- a/sklearn/tests/test_isotonic.py
+++ b/sklearn/tests/test_isotonic.py
@@ -227,7 +227,13 @@ def test_isotonic_regression_with_ties_in_differently_sized_groups():
 
 def test_isotonic_regression_reversed():
     y = np.array([10, 9, 10, 7, 6, 6.1, 5])
+    y_result = np.array([10, 9.5, 9.5, 7, 6.05, 6.05, 5])
+
+    y_iso = isotonic_regression(y, increasing=False)
+    assert_allclose(y_iso, y_result)
+
     y_ = IsotonicRegression(increasing=False).fit_transform(np.arange(len(y)), y)
+    assert_allclose(y_, y_result)
     assert_array_equal(np.ones(y_[:-1].shape), ((y_[:-1] - y_[1:]) >= 0))
 
 
@@ -502,25 +508,25 @@ def test_isotonic_copy_before_fit():
     copy.copy(ir)
 
 
-def test_isotonic_dtype():
+@pytest.mark.parametrize("dtype", [np.int32, np.int64, np.float32, np.float64])
+def test_isotonic_dtype(dtype):
     y = [2, 1, 4, 3, 5]
     weights = np.array([0.9, 0.9, 0.9, 0.9, 0.9], dtype=np.float64)
     reg = IsotonicRegression()
 
-    for dtype in (np.int32, np.int64, np.float32, np.float64):
-        for sample_weight in (None, weights.astype(np.float32), weights):
-            y_np = np.array(y, dtype=dtype)
-            expected_dtype = check_array(
-                y_np, dtype=[np.float64, np.float32], ensure_2d=False
-            ).dtype
+    for sample_weight in (None, weights.astype(np.float32), weights):
+        y_np = np.array(y, dtype=dtype)
+        expected_dtype = check_array(
+            y_np, dtype=[np.float64, np.float32], ensure_2d=False
+        ).dtype
 
-            res = isotonic_regression(y_np, sample_weight=sample_weight)
-            assert res.dtype == expected_dtype
+        res = isotonic_regression(y_np, sample_weight=sample_weight)
+        assert res.dtype == expected_dtype
 
-            X = np.arange(len(y)).astype(dtype)
-            reg.fit(X, y_np, sample_weight=sample_weight)
-            res = reg.predict(X)
-            assert res.dtype == expected_dtype
+        X = np.arange(len(y)).astype(dtype)
+        reg.fit(X, y_np, sample_weight=sample_weight)
+        res = reg.predict(X)
+        assert res.dtype == expected_dtype
 
 
 @pytest.mark.parametrize("y_dtype", [np.int32, np.int64, np.float32, np.float64])