diff --git a/lib/iris/analysis/maths.py b/lib/iris/analysis/maths.py
index 223432e076..dbb8b506d1 100644
--- a/lib/iris/analysis/maths.py
+++ b/lib/iris/analysis/maths.py
@@ -386,8 +386,8 @@ def exponentiate(cube, exponent, in_place=False):
     """
     _assert_is_cube(cube)
 
-    def power(data, out=None):
-        return np.power(data, exponent, out)
+    def power(data):
+        return biggus.power(data, exponent)
 
     return _math_op_common(cube, power, cube.units ** exponent,
                            in_place=in_place)
@@ -656,11 +656,7 @@ def _math_op_common(cube, operation_function, new_unit, in_place=False):
     _assert_is_cube(cube)
     if in_place:
         new_cube = cube
-        try:
-            operation_function(new_cube._my_data, out=new_cube._my_data)
-        except TypeError:
-            # Non ufunc function
-            operation_function(new_cube.data)
+        new_cube._my_data = operation_function(new_cube._my_data)
     else:
         new_cube = cube.copy(data=operation_function(cube._my_data))
     iris.analysis.clear_phenomenon_identity(new_cube)
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/test_basic_maths.py b/lib/iris/tests/test_basic_maths.py
index e690805140..8ce0eefa12 100644
--- a/lib/iris/tests/test_basic_maths.py
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/test_basic_maths.py
@@ -562,10 +562,10 @@ def vec_mag(u, v):
         vec_mag_ufunc = np.frompyfunc(vec_mag, 2, 1)
         b = iris.analysis.maths.apply_ufunc(vec_mag_ufunc, a, c)
 
-        ans = a.data**2 + c.data**2
-        b2 = b**2
+        ans = np.sqrt(a.data**2 + c.data**2)
+        # b2 = b**2
 
-        self.assertArrayAlmostEqual(b2.data, ans)
+        self.assertArrayAlmostEqual(b.data, ans)
 
 class TestIFunc(tests.IrisTest):
     def setUp(self):
diff --git a/lib/iris/tests/unit/analysis/maths/test_exponentiate.py b/lib/iris/tests/unit/analysis/maths/test_exponentiate.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..98aa7ef228
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/iris/tests/unit/analysis/maths/test_exponentiate.py
@@ -0,0 +1,94 @@
+# (C) British Crown Copyright 2015, Met Office
+#
+# This file is part of Iris.
+#
+# Iris is free software: you can redistribute it and/or modify it under
+# the terms of the GNU Lesser General Public License as published by the
+# Free Software Foundation, either version 3 of the License, or
+# (at your option) any later version.
+#
+# Iris is distributed in the hope that it will be useful,
+# but WITHOUT ANY WARRANTY; without even the implied warranty of
+# MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.  See the
+# GNU Lesser General Public License for more details.
+#
+# You should have received a copy of the GNU Lesser General Public License
+# along with Iris.  If not, see <http://www.gnu.org/licenses/>.
+"""Unit tests for the :func:`iris.analysis.maths.exponentiate` function."""
+
+from __future__ import (absolute_import, division, print_function)
+from six.moves import (filter, input, map, range, zip)  # noqa
+
+# Import iris.tests first so that some things can be initialised before
+# importing anything else.
+import iris.tests as tests
+from iris.tests.stock import simple_2d
+
+from biggus import NumpyArrayAdapter
+import iris
+from iris.analysis.maths import exponentiate
+import numpy as np
+
+
+class Test_exponentiate(tests.IrisTest):
+    def setUp(self):
+        self.cube = simple_2d(with_bounds=False)
+        self.exponent = np.float32(2)
+
+    def test_basic(self):
+        expected = self.cube.data ** self.exponent
+        result = exponentiate(self.cube, self.exponent)
+        self.assertArrayEqual(result.data, expected)
+
+    def test_masked(self):
+        cube = self.cube.copy()
+        mask = cube.data % 3 == 0
+        masked_data = np.ma.masked_array(cube.data, mask)
+        cube.data = masked_data
+        expected = masked_data ** 2
+        result = exponentiate(cube, self.exponent)
+        self.assertMaskedArrayEqual(result.data, expected)
+
+    def test_lazy_data__inplace(self):
+        # Confirm that the cube's lazy data is preserved through an operation
+        # that is not in-place.
+        cube = self.cube.copy()
+        cube.lazy_data(array=NumpyArrayAdapter(cube.data))
+        expected = cube.copy().data ** self.exponent
+        exponentiate(cube, self.exponent, in_place=True)
+        self.assertTrue(cube.has_lazy_data())
+        self.assertArrayAlmostEqual(cube.data, expected)
+
+    def test_lazy_data__not_inplace(self):
+        # Confirm that the cube's lazy data is preserved through an
+        # in-place operation.
+        cube = self.cube.copy()
+        cube.lazy_data(array=NumpyArrayAdapter(cube.data))
+        expected = cube.copy().data ** self.exponent
+        result = exponentiate(cube, self.exponent, in_place=False)
+        self.assertTrue(result.has_lazy_data())
+        self.assertArrayEqual(result.data, expected)
+
+    def test_exponentiate__preloaded_data__inplace(self):
+        # Confirm that the cube's data is lazy after an in-place operation and
+        # after pre-loading the data.
+        cube = self.cube.copy()
+        cube.lazy_data(array=NumpyArrayAdapter(cube.data))
+        expected = cube.data ** self.exponent
+        exponentiate(cube, self.exponent, in_place=True)
+        self.assertTrue(cube.has_lazy_data())
+        self.assertArrayAlmostEqual(cube.data, expected)
+
+    def test_exponentiate__preloaded_data__not_inplace(self):
+        # Confirm that the cube's data is lazy after an operation that is not
+        # in-place and after pre-loading the data.
+        cube = self.cube.copy()
+        cube.lazy_data(array=NumpyArrayAdapter(cube.data))
+        expected = cube.data ** self.exponent
+        result = exponentiate(cube, self.exponent, in_place=False)
+        self.assertTrue(result.has_lazy_data())
+        self.assertArrayAlmostEqual(result.data, expected)
+
+
+if __name__ == "__main__":
+    tests.main()