diff --git a/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py b/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
index 1793d6806be83..1651c9f50e525 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/test_graphics.py
@@ -1605,8 +1605,8 @@ def test_plot_scatter_with_c(self):
         axes = [df.plot(kind='scatter', x='x', y='y', c='z'),
                 df.plot(kind='scatter', x=0, y=1, c=2)]
         for ax in axes:
-            # default to RdBu
-            self.assertEqual(ax.collections[0].cmap.name, 'RdBu')
+            # default to Greys
+            self.assertEqual(ax.collections[0].cmap.name, 'Greys')
 
             if self.mpl_ge_1_3_1:
 
diff --git a/pandas/tools/plotting.py b/pandas/tools/plotting.py
index 1d47c3781a7d7..d2c0bcfa5f2a0 100644
--- a/pandas/tools/plotting.py
+++ b/pandas/tools/plotting.py
@@ -1405,7 +1405,7 @@ def _make_plot(self):
         cb = self.kwds.pop('colorbar', self.colormap or c in self.data.columns)
 
         # pandas uses colormap, matplotlib uses cmap.
-        cmap = self.colormap or 'RdBu'
+        cmap = self.colormap or 'Greys'
         cmap = plt.cm.get_cmap(cmap)
 
         if c is None: