diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_compat.py b/pandas/plotting/_compat.py
index 7b04b9e1171ec..d527bc08e2f08 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_compat.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_compat.py
@@ -65,3 +65,11 @@ def _mpl_ge_2_0_1():
         return matplotlib.__version__ >= LooseVersion('2.0.1')
     except ImportError:
         return False
+
+
+def _mpl_ge_2_1_0():
+    try:
+        import matplotlib
+        return matplotlib.__version__ >= LooseVersion('2.1')
+    except ImportError:
+        return False
diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_core.py b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
index 211d9777e7515..c4cd562df7eb3 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_core.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_core.py
@@ -2000,7 +2000,7 @@ def maybe_color_bp(bp):
 
     def plot_group(keys, values, ax):
         keys = [pprint_thing(x) for x in keys]
-        values = [remove_na_arraylike(v) for v in values]
+        values = [np.asarray(remove_na_arraylike(v)) for v in values]
         bp = ax.boxplot(values, **kwds)
         if fontsize is not None:
             ax.tick_params(axis='both', labelsize=fontsize)
diff --git a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
index 8fe119d28644c..4b1cb2ccbd3dd 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/plotting/test_boxplot_method.py
@@ -11,7 +11,6 @@
 
 import numpy as np
 from numpy import random
-from numpy.random import randn
 
 import pandas.plotting as plotting
 
@@ -35,8 +34,8 @@ def _skip_if_mpl_14_or_dev_boxplot():
 class TestDataFramePlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @pytest.mark.slow
-    def test_boxplot_legacy(self):
-        df = DataFrame(randn(6, 4),
+    def test_boxplot_legacy1(self):
+        df = DataFrame(np.random.randn(6, 4),
                        index=list(string.ascii_letters[:6]),
                        columns=['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
         df['indic'] = ['foo', 'bar'] * 3
@@ -60,6 +59,8 @@ def test_boxplot_legacy(self):
         with tm.assert_produces_warning(UserWarning):
             _check_plot_works(df.boxplot, by='indic', notch=1)
 
+    @pytest.mark.slow
+    def test_boxplot_legacy2(self):
         df = DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 2), columns=['Col1', 'Col2'])
         df['X'] = Series(['A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'A', 'B', 'B', 'B', 'B', 'B'])
         df['Y'] = Series(['A'] * 10)
@@ -103,7 +104,7 @@ def test_boxplot_return_type_legacy(self):
         # API change in https://github.com/pandas-dev/pandas/pull/7096
         import matplotlib as mpl  # noqa
 
-        df = DataFrame(randn(6, 4),
+        df = DataFrame(np.random.randn(6, 4),
                        index=list(string.ascii_letters[:6]),
                        columns=['one', 'two', 'three', 'four'])
         with pytest.raises(ValueError):
@@ -176,7 +177,7 @@ def test_fontsize(self):
 class TestDataFrameGroupByPlots(TestPlotBase):
 
     @pytest.mark.slow
-    def test_boxplot_legacy(self):
+    def test_boxplot_legacy1(self):
         grouped = self.hist_df.groupby(by='gender')
         with tm.assert_produces_warning(UserWarning):
             axes = _check_plot_works(grouped.boxplot, return_type='axes')
@@ -184,10 +185,12 @@ def test_boxplot_legacy(self):
         axes = _check_plot_works(grouped.boxplot, subplots=False,
                                  return_type='axes')
         self._check_axes_shape(axes, axes_num=1, layout=(1, 1))
+
+    @pytest.mark.slow
+    def test_boxplot_legacy2(self):
         tuples = lzip(string.ascii_letters[:10], range(10))
         df = DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 3),
                        index=MultiIndex.from_tuples(tuples))
-
         grouped = df.groupby(level=1)
         with tm.assert_produces_warning(UserWarning):
             axes = _check_plot_works(grouped.boxplot, return_type='axes')
@@ -197,6 +200,11 @@ def test_boxplot_legacy(self):
                                  return_type='axes')
         self._check_axes_shape(axes, axes_num=1, layout=(1, 1))
 
+    @pytest.mark.slow
+    def test_boxplot_legacy3(self):
+        tuples = lzip(string.ascii_letters[:10], range(10))
+        df = DataFrame(np.random.rand(10, 3),
+                       index=MultiIndex.from_tuples(tuples))
         grouped = df.unstack(level=1).groupby(level=0, axis=1)
         with tm.assert_produces_warning(UserWarning):
             axes = _check_plot_works(grouped.boxplot, return_type='axes')