diff --git a/base/math.jl b/base/math.jl
index bf3895e401e44..650fc6bc0cef0 100644
--- a/base/math.jl
+++ b/base/math.jl
@@ -831,13 +831,11 @@ min(x::T, y::T) where {T<:AbstractFloat} = isnan(x) || ~isnan(y) && _isless(x, y
 max(x::T, y::T) where {T<:AbstractFloat} = isnan(x) || ~isnan(y) && _isless(y, x) ? x : y
 minmax(x::T, y::T) where {T<:AbstractFloat} = min(x, y), max(x, y)
 
-_isless(x::Float16, y::Float16) = signbit(widen(x) - widen(y))
-
-function min(x::T, y::T) where {T<:Union{Float16,Float32,Float64}}
+function min(x::T, y::T) where {T<:IEEEFloat}
     return min_float(x, y)
 end
 
-function max(x::T, y::T) where {T<:Union{Float16,Float32,Float64}}
+function max(x::T, y::T) where {T<:IEEEFloat}
     return max_float(x, y)
 end
 
diff --git a/src/runtime_intrinsics.c b/src/runtime_intrinsics.c
index 33f823fe6d088..1790b9bd8d106 100644
--- a/src/runtime_intrinsics.c
+++ b/src/runtime_intrinsics.c
@@ -1404,7 +1404,7 @@ bi_fintrinsic(sub,sub_float)
 bi_fintrinsic(mul,mul_float)
 bi_fintrinsic(div,div_float)
 
-float min_float(float x, float y)
+float min_float(float x, float y) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
     float diff = x - y;
     float argmin = signbit(diff) ? x : y;
@@ -1412,7 +1412,7 @@ float min_float(float x, float y)
     return is_nan ? diff : argmin;
 }
 
-double min_double(double x, double y)
+double min_double(double x, double y) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
     double diff = x - y;
     double argmin = signbit(diff) ? x : y;
@@ -1423,7 +1423,7 @@ double min_double(double x, double y)
 #define _min(a, b) sizeof(a) == sizeof(float) ? min_float(a, b) : min_double(a, b)
 bi_fintrinsic(_min, min_float)
 
-float max_float(float x, float y)
+float max_float(float x, float y) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
     float diff = x - y;
     float argmin = signbit(diff) ? y : x;
@@ -1431,7 +1431,7 @@ float max_float(float x, float y)
     return is_nan ? diff : argmin;
 }
 
-double max_double(double x, double y)
+double max_double(double x, double y) JL_NOTSAFEPOINT
 {
     double diff = x - y;
     double argmin = signbit(diff) ? x : y;