diff --git a/pandas/core/reshape/tile.py b/pandas/core/reshape/tile.py
index d8398023a5083..2fdfe46264e56 100644
--- a/pandas/core/reshape/tile.py
+++ b/pandas/core/reshape/tile.py
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ def cut(x, bins, right=True, labels=None, retbins=False, precision=3,
     labels : array or boolean, default None
         Used as labels for the resulting bins. Must be of the same length as
         the resulting bins. If False, return only integer indicators of the
-        bins.
+        bins. If True, raises an error.
     retbins : bool, optional
         Whether to return the bins or not. Can be useful if bins is given
         as a scalar.
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ def qcut(x, q, labels=None, retbins=False, precision=3, duplicates='raise'):
     labels : array or boolean, default None
         Used as labels for the resulting bins. Must be of the same length as
         the resulting bins. If False, return only integer indicators of the
-        bins.
+        bins. If True, raises an error.
     retbins : bool, optional
         Whether to return the (bins, labels) or not. Can be useful if bins
         is given as a scalar.
@@ -245,7 +245,10 @@ def _bins_to_cuts(x, bins, right=True, labels=None,
     has_nas = na_mask.any()
 
     if labels is not False:
-        if labels is None:
+        if labels is True:
+            raise ValueError("User desired bin labels must be passed "
+                             "in as an argument, not just `True`")
+        elif labels is None:
             labels = _format_labels(bins, precision, right=right,
                                     include_lowest=include_lowest,
                                     dtype=dtype)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/reshape/test_tile.py b/pandas/tests/reshape/test_tile.py
index 2523f8ab9f776..1254fb3c84270 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/reshape/test_tile.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/reshape/test_tile.py
@@ -326,6 +326,12 @@ def test_series_retbins(self):
                                                                 ordered=True)
         tm.assert_series_equal(result, expected)
 
+    def test_qcut_labels_true(self):
+        # issue 13318
+        values = list(range(10))
+        with tm.assert_raises_regex(ValueError, "True"):
+            qcut(values, 5, labels=True)
+
     def test_qcut_duplicates_bin(self):
         # GH 7751
         values = [0, 0, 0, 0, 1, 2, 3]