diff --git a/mlx/linalg.cpp b/mlx/linalg.cpp
index bdf05fb80b..75a662b1e6 100644
--- a/mlx/linalg.cpp
+++ b/mlx/linalg.cpp
@@ -84,8 +84,8 @@ inline array matrix_norm(
     bool keepdims,
     StreamOrDevice s) {
   auto dtype = at_least_float(a.dtype());
-  auto row_axis = axis[0];
-  auto col_axis = axis[1];
+  int row_axis = (axis[0] < 0) ? axis[0] + a.ndim() : axis[0];
+  int col_axis = (axis[1] < 0) ? axis[1] + a.ndim() : axis[1];
   if (ord == -1.0) {
     col_axis -= (!keepdims && col_axis > row_axis && col_axis > 0);
     return astype(
@@ -99,24 +99,18 @@ inline array matrix_norm(
         dtype,
         s);
   } else if (ord == std::numeric_limits<double>::infinity()) {
-    row_axis = (axis[0] < 0) ? axis[0] + a.ndim() : axis[0];
-    col_axis = (axis[1] < 0) ? axis[1] + a.ndim() : axis[1];
     row_axis -= (!keepdims && row_axis > col_axis && row_axis > 0);
     return astype(
         max(sum(abs(a, s), col_axis, keepdims, s), row_axis, keepdims, s),
         dtype,
         s);
   } else if (ord == -std::numeric_limits<double>::infinity()) {
-    row_axis = (axis[0] < 0) ? axis[0] + a.ndim() : axis[0];
-    col_axis = (axis[1] < 0) ? axis[1] + a.ndim() : axis[1];
     row_axis -= (!keepdims && row_axis > col_axis && row_axis > 0);
     return astype(
         min(sum(abs(a, s), col_axis, keepdims, s), row_axis, keepdims, s),
         dtype,
         s);
   } else if (ord == 2.0 || ord == -2.0) {
-    row_axis = (axis[0] < 0) ? axis[0] + a.ndim() : axis[0];
-    col_axis = (axis[1] < 0) ? axis[1] + a.ndim() : axis[1];
     auto a_matrix = (row_axis > col_axis)
         ? moveaxis(moveaxis(a, row_axis, -1, s), col_axis, -1, s)
         : moveaxis(moveaxis(a, col_axis, -1, s), row_axis, -2, s);
diff --git a/python/tests/test_linalg.py b/python/tests/test_linalg.py
index afdf75d7c8..39f0a3b891 100644
--- a/python/tests/test_linalg.py
+++ b/python/tests/test_linalg.py
@@ -65,8 +65,8 @@ def test_norm(self):
                 with self.subTest(shape=shape, keepdims=keepdims):
                     self.assertTrue(np.allclose(out_np, out_mx, atol=1e-5, rtol=1e-6))
 
-        # neg/pos inf norm test
-        norms = [-float("inf"), float("inf")]
+        # tests for negative indexing: -1/1/inf/-inf/
+        norms = [-1, 1, -float("inf"), float("inf")]
         for shape in [(3, 3), (2, 3, 3), (2, 3, 3, 3)]:
             x_mx = mx.arange(1, math.prod(shape) + 1, dtype=mx.float32).reshape(shape)
             x_np = np.arange(1, math.prod(shape) + 1, dtype=np.float32).reshape(shape)
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ def test_norm(self):
                 for axes in neg_axes:
                     out_np = np.linalg.norm(
                         x_np,
-                        ord=np.inf if ord == float("inf") else -np.inf,
+                        ord=ord,
                         axis=tuple(axes),
                     )
                     out_mx = mx.linalg.norm(x_mx, ord=ord, axis=axes)
diff --git a/tests/linalg_tests.cpp b/tests/linalg_tests.cpp
index 7c81062a38..9c2494df4c 100644
--- a/tests/linalg_tests.cpp
+++ b/tests/linalg_tests.cpp
@@ -189,6 +189,13 @@ TEST_CASE("[mlx.core.linalg.norm] double ord") {
           Device::cpu)
           .item<float>(),
       doctest::Approx(3.0));
+  CHECK_EQ(
+      norm(x, -1, std::vector<int>{-1, -2}, false, Device::cpu).item<float>(),
+      doctest::Approx(3.0));
+  CHECK_EQ(
+      norm(x, 1, std::vector<int>{-1, -2}, false, Device::cpu).item<float>(),
+      doctest::Approx(21.0));
+
   x = reshape(arange(18, float32), {2, 3, 3});
   CHECK_THROWS(norm(x, 2.0, std::vector{0, 1, 2}));
   CHECK(allclose(
@@ -283,6 +290,14 @@ TEST_CASE("[mlx.core.linalg.norm] double ord") {
                 Device::cpu),
             array({3.0, 30.0}))
             .item<bool>());
+  CHECK(allclose(
+            norm(x, 1, std::vector<int>{-1, -2}, false, Device::cpu),
+            array({21.0, 48.0}))
+            .item<bool>());
+  CHECK(allclose(
+            norm(x, -1, std::vector<int>{-1, -2}, false, Device::cpu),
+            array({3.0, 30.0}))
+            .item<bool>());
 }
 
 TEST_CASE("[mlx.core.linalg.norm] string ord") {