diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 4537abe60b9f..dd86abaeba96 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -7541,11 +7541,6 @@ def spy(self, Z, precision=0, marker=None, markersize=None,
             pass 'present'. In this case any value present in the array
             will be plotted, even if it is identically zero.
 
-        origin : {'upper', 'lower'}, default: :rc:`image.origin`
-            Place the [0, 0] index of the array in the upper left or lower left
-            corner of the axes. The convention 'upper' is typically used for
-            matrices and images.
-
         aspect : {'equal', 'auto', None} or float, default: 'equal'
             The aspect ratio of the axes.  This parameter is particularly
             relevant for images since it determines whether data pixels are
@@ -7560,6 +7555,11 @@ def spy(self, Z, precision=0, marker=None, markersize=None,
               non-square pixels.
             - *None*: Use :rc:`image.aspect`.
 
+        origin : {'upper', 'lower'}, default: :rc:`image.origin`
+            Place the [0, 0] index of the array in the upper left or lower left
+            corner of the axes. The convention 'upper' is typically used for
+            matrices and images.
+
         Returns
         -------
         ret : `~matplotlib.image.AxesImage` or `.Line2D`
@@ -7585,6 +7585,7 @@ def spy(self, Z, precision=0, marker=None, markersize=None,
         """
         if marker is None and markersize is None and hasattr(Z, 'tocoo'):
             marker = 's'
+        cbook._check_in_list(["upper", "lower"], origin=origin)
         if marker is None and markersize is None:
             Z = np.asarray(Z)
             mask = np.abs(Z) > precision
@@ -7618,23 +7619,27 @@ def spy(self, Z, precision=0, marker=None, markersize=None,
             if 'linestyle' in kwargs:
                 raise TypeError(
                     "spy() got an unexpected keyword argument 'linestyle'")
-            marks = mlines.Line2D(x, y, linestyle='None',
-                         marker=marker, markersize=markersize, **kwargs)
-            self.add_line(marks)
+            ret = mlines.Line2D(
+                x, y, linestyle='None', marker=marker, markersize=markersize,
+                **kwargs)
+            self.add_line(ret)
             nr, nc = Z.shape
             self.set_xlim(-0.5, nc - 0.5)
-            self.set_ylim(nr - 0.5, -0.5)
+            if origin == "upper":
+                self.set_ylim(nr - 0.5, -0.5)
+            else:
+                self.set_ylim(-0.5, nr - 0.5)
             self.set_aspect(aspect)
-            ret = marks
         self.title.set_y(1.05)
-        self.xaxis.tick_top()
+        if origin == "upper":
+            self.xaxis.tick_top()
+        else:
+            self.xaxis.tick_bottom()
         self.xaxis.set_ticks_position('both')
-        self.xaxis.set_major_locator(mticker.MaxNLocator(nbins=9,
-                                                 steps=[1, 2, 5, 10],
-                                                 integer=True))
-        self.yaxis.set_major_locator(mticker.MaxNLocator(nbins=9,
-                                                 steps=[1, 2, 5, 10],
-                                                 integer=True))
+        self.xaxis.set_major_locator(
+            mticker.MaxNLocator(nbins=9, steps=[1, 2, 5, 10], integer=True))
+        self.yaxis.set_major_locator(
+            mticker.MaxNLocator(nbins=9, steps=[1, 2, 5, 10], integer=True))
         return ret
 
     def matshow(self, Z, **kwargs):
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/image.py b/lib/matplotlib/image.py
index e86688f8e356..60c304094e00 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/image.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/image.py
@@ -246,6 +246,7 @@ def __init__(self, ax,
         self._mouseover = True
         if origin is None:
             origin = rcParams['image.origin']
+        cbook._check_in_list(["upper", "lower"], origin=origin)
         self.origin = origin
         self.set_filternorm(filternorm)
         self.set_filterrad(filterrad)
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/spy.png b/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/spy.png
deleted file mode 100644
index d2242b1858fa..000000000000
Binary files a/lib/matplotlib/tests/baseline_images/test_axes/spy.png and /dev/null differ
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
index a21c80ac1fd8..c1a8a57cfbc0 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_axes.py
@@ -56,16 +56,26 @@ def test_acorr():
     ax.legend()
 
 
-@image_comparison(['spy.png'], style='mpl20')
-def test_spy():
+@check_figures_equal(extensions=["png"])
+def test_spy(fig_test, fig_ref):
     np.random.seed(19680801)
     a = np.ones(32 * 32)
     a[:16 * 32] = 0
     np.random.shuffle(a)
-    a = np.reshape(a, (32, 32))
-
-    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
-    ax.spy(a)
+    a = a.reshape((32, 32))
+
+    axs_test = fig_test.subplots(2)
+    axs_test[0].spy(a)
+    axs_test[1].spy(a, marker=".", origin="lower")
+
+    axs_ref = fig_ref.subplots(2)
+    axs_ref[0].imshow(a, cmap="gray_r", interpolation="nearest")
+    axs_ref[0].xaxis.tick_top()
+    axs_ref[1].plot(*np.nonzero(a)[::-1], ".", markersize=10)
+    axs_ref[1].set(
+        aspect=1, xlim=axs_ref[0].get_xlim(), ylim=axs_ref[0].get_ylim()[::-1])
+    for ax in axs_ref:
+        ax.xaxis.set_ticks_position("both")
 
 
 def test_spy_invalid_kwargs():