diff --git a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cc b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cc
index 2943d409a2e42a01f3d6bbb28c8c89c2409c45f5..8a44fd12ce0eb61c87e6f5b244d8f19c88db49c9 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cc
+++ b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cc
@@ -37,10 +37,10 @@ class ArgsortOp : public framework::OperatorWithKernel {
                    "Attr(axis) %d of ArgsortOp is out of bounds for Input(X) "
                    "dimension %d.",
                    axis, num_dims);
-    PADDLE_ENFORCE(axis >= 0 || axis == -1,
-                   "Attr(axis) %d of ArgsortOp must be nonnegative or equal to "
-                   "-1.",
-                   axis);
+    PADDLE_ENFORCE(in_dims.size() + axis >= 0,
+                   "Attr(axis) %d of ArgsortOp plus the number of Input(X)'s "
+                   "dimensions %d must be nonnegative.",
+                   axis, in_dims.size());
 
     ctx->SetOutputDim("Out", in_dims);
     ctx->SetOutputDim("Indices", in_dims);
@@ -53,9 +53,12 @@ class ArgsortOpMaker : public framework::OpProtoAndCheckerMaker {
  public:
   void Make() override {
     AddInput("X", "(Tensor) The input of Argsort op.");
-    AddOutput("Out", "(Tensor) The sorted tensor of Argsort op.");
+    AddOutput("Out",
+              "(Tensor) The sorted tensor of Argsort op, with the same "
+              "shape as Input(X).");
     AddOutput("Indices",
-              "(Tensor) The indices of a tensor giving the sorted order.");
+              "(Tensor) The indices of a tensor giving the sorted order, with "
+              "the same shape as Input(X).");
     AddComment(R"DOC(
 Argsort operator
 
@@ -66,8 +69,9 @@ Output(Indices) gives the sorted order along the given axis Attr(axis).
 
  )DOC");
     AddAttr<int>("axis",
-                 "(int, default -1) The axis along which to sort the tensor, "
-                 "default -1, the last dimension.")
+                 "(int, default -1) The axis along which to sort the tensor. "
+                 "When axis < 0, the actual axis will be the |axis|'th "
+                 "counting backwards. Default -1, the last dimension.")
         .SetDefault(-1);
   }
 };
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cu b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cu
index eac18ea3a0350697c8e1a96b71cc4a9068b26be8..55ad4ce340d0ff73323aa9951e9c8f52326aae4a 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cu
+++ b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.cu
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ class ArgsortOpCUDAKernel : public framework::OpKernel<T> {
     int axis = ctx.Attr<int>("axis");
 
     auto in_dims = input->dims();
-    axis = (axis == -1) ? (in_dims.size() - 1) : axis;
+    axis = (axis < 0) ? (in_dims.size() + axis) : axis;
 
     const T* in_data = input->data<T>();
     T* out_data = output->mutable_data<T>(ctx.GetPlace());
diff --git a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.h b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.h
index 51d2b89f94d5b52bbfef2108127f90475915b835..e13745c4941cd25d3242a1c8f2860e836d80f73c 100644
--- a/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.h
+++ b/paddle/fluid/operators/argsort_op.h
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ class ArgsortKernel : public framework::OpKernel<T> {
     int axis = static_cast<int>(ctx.Attr<int>("axis"));
 
     auto in_dims = input->dims();
-    axis = (axis == -1) ? (in_dims.size() - 1) : axis;
+    axis = (axis < 0) ? (in_dims.size() + axis) : axis;
 
     const T* in_data = input->data<T>();
     T* out_data = output->mutable_data<T>(ctx.GetPlace());
diff --git a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_argsort_op.py b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_argsort_op.py
index 6995621ba8ca64ddb47dae7de07253af8997934e..1d0aa82a6b398592dc5b905be56591a1094b9e41 100644
--- a/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_argsort_op.py
+++ b/python/paddle/fluid/tests/unittests/test_argsort_op.py
@@ -21,6 +21,8 @@ class TestArgsortOp(OpTest):
     def setUp(self):
         self.init_axis()
         x = np.random.random((2, 3, 4, 5)).astype("float32")
+        if self.axis < 0:
+            self.axis = self.axis + len(x.shape)
         self.indices = np.argsort(x, kind='quicksort', axis=self.axis)
         self.out = np.sort(x, kind='quicksort', axis=self.axis)
         self.op_type = "argsort"
@@ -45,5 +47,10 @@ class TestArgsortOpAxis1(TestArgsortOp):
         self.axis = 1
 
 
+class TestArgsortOpAxisNeg2(TestArgsortOp):
+    def init_axis(self):
+        self.axis = -2
+
+
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     unittest.main()