diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
index 18eefa6a14a37..9b721e45099fe 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_datetimelike.py
@@ -1356,10 +1356,10 @@ def test_plot_outofbounds_datetime(self):
         values = [datetime(1677, 1, 1, 12), datetime(1677, 1, 2, 12)]
         ax.plot(values)
 
+    @td.xfail_if_mpl_2_2
     @pytest.mark.skip(
         is_platform_mac(),
         "skip on mac for precision display issue on older mpl")
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason="suspect on mpl 2.2.2")
     def test_format_timedelta_ticks_narrow(self):
 
         if self.mpl_ge_2_0_0:
@@ -1381,10 +1381,10 @@ def test_format_timedelta_ticks_narrow(self):
         for l, l_expected in zip(labels, expected_labels):
             assert l.get_text() == l_expected
 
+    @td.xfail_if_mpl_2_2
     @pytest.mark.skip(
         is_platform_mac(),
         "skip on mac for precision display issue on older mpl")
-    @pytest.mark.xfail(reason="suspect on mpl 2.2.2")
     def test_format_timedelta_ticks_wide(self):
 
         if self.mpl_ge_2_0_0:
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_frame.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_frame.py
index 3d25b0b51e052..b29afcb404ac6 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_frame.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_frame.py
@@ -2461,6 +2461,7 @@ def test_errorbar_asymmetrical(self):
 
         tm.close()
 
+    @td.xfail_if_mpl_2_2
     def test_table(self):
         df = DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 3),
                        index=list(string.ascii_letters[:10]))
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
index 9e538ae130a85..c5ce8aba9d80e 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_misc.py
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ def test_bootstrap_plot(self):
 @td.skip_if_no_mpl
 class TestDataFramePlots(TestPlotBase):
 
+    @td.xfail_if_mpl_2_2
     @td.skip_if_no_scipy
     def test_scatter_matrix_axis(self):
         scatter_matrix = plotting.scatter_matrix
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
index 278be433183fa..5dc7d52e05778 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_series.py
@@ -792,6 +792,7 @@ def test_errorbar_plot(self):
         with pytest.raises((ValueError, TypeError)):
             s.plot(yerr=s_err)
 
+    @td.xfail_if_mpl_2_2
     def test_table(self):
         _check_plot_works(self.series.plot, table=True)
         _check_plot_works(self.series.plot, table=self.series)
diff --git a/pandas/util/_test_decorators.py b/pandas/util/_test_decorators.py
index b2745ab5eec77..8ad73538fbec1 100644
--- a/pandas/util/_test_decorators.py
+++ b/pandas/util/_test_decorators.py
@@ -89,6 +89,17 @@ def _skip_if_mpl_1_5():
             mod.use("Agg", warn=False)
 
 
+def _skip_if_mpl_2_2():
+    mod = safe_import("matplotlib")
+
+    if mod:
+        v = mod.__version__
+        if LooseVersion(v) > LooseVersion('2.1.2'):
+            return True
+        else:
+            mod.use("Agg", warn=False)
+
+
 def _skip_if_has_locale():
     lang, _ = locale.getlocale()
     if lang is not None:
@@ -151,6 +162,8 @@ def decorated_func(func):
                                     reason="Missing matplotlib dependency")
 skip_if_mpl_1_5 = pytest.mark.skipif(_skip_if_mpl_1_5(),
                                      reason="matplotlib 1.5")
+xfail_if_mpl_2_2 = pytest.mark.xfail(_skip_if_mpl_2_2(),
+                                     reason="matplotlib 2.2")
 skip_if_32bit = pytest.mark.skipif(is_platform_32bit(),
                                    reason="skipping for 32 bit")
 skip_if_windows = pytest.mark.skipif(is_platform_windows(),