diff --git a/pandas/_libs/lib.pyx b/pandas/_libs/lib.pyx
index 0b0334d52c1e9..599667a093290 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/lib.pyx
+++ b/pandas/_libs/lib.pyx
@@ -2115,7 +2115,8 @@ def maybe_convert_numeric(ndarray[object] values, set na_values,
 def maybe_convert_objects(ndarray[object] objects, bint try_float=False,
                           bint safe=False, bint convert_datetime=False,
                           bint convert_timedelta=False,
-                          bint convert_to_nullable_integer=False):
+                          bint convert_to_nullable_integer=False,
+                          bint convert_intenum=False):
     """
     Type inference function-- convert object array to proper dtype
 
@@ -2217,6 +2218,9 @@ def maybe_convert_objects(ndarray[object] objects, bint try_float=False,
                 seen.object_ = True
                 break
         elif util.is_integer_object(val):
+            if getattr(val, 'name', None) is not None and not convert_intenum:
+                seen.object_ = True
+                break
             seen.int_ = True
             floats[i] = <float64_t>val
             complexes[i] = <double complex>val
diff --git a/pandas/_libs/tslibs/util.pxd b/pandas/_libs/tslibs/util.pxd
index 16d801f69df05..7cc51fea62afd 100644
--- a/pandas/_libs/tslibs/util.pxd
+++ b/pandas/_libs/tslibs/util.pxd
@@ -69,7 +69,7 @@ cdef inline bint is_integer_object(object obj) nogil:
 
     Notes
     -----
-    This counts np.timedelta64 objects as integers.
+    This counts np.timedelta64  and IntEnums objects as integers.
     """
     return (not PyBool_Check(obj) and PyArray_IsIntegerScalar(obj)
             and not is_timedelta64_object(obj))
diff --git a/pandas/tests/dtypes/test_inference.py b/pandas/tests/dtypes/test_inference.py
index 438a22c99a4eb..ef5ef8d7a7d1c 100644
--- a/pandas/tests/dtypes/test_inference.py
+++ b/pandas/tests/dtypes/test_inference.py
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 from collections import namedtuple
 from datetime import date, datetime, time, timedelta
 from decimal import Decimal
+from enum import IntEnum
 from fractions import Fraction
 from io import StringIO
 from numbers import Number
@@ -589,6 +590,24 @@ def test_maybe_convert_objects_bool_nan(self):
         out = lib.maybe_convert_objects(ind.values, safe=1)
         tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(out, exp)
 
+    def test_maybe_convert_objects_intenum(self):
+        class Colors(IntEnum):
+            red = 1
+            blue = 2
+
+        ind = Index([Colors.red, Colors.blue], dtype=object)
+        expected = np.array([Colors.red, Colors.blue], dtype=object)
+        result = lib.maybe_convert_objects(ind.values)
+
+        # by default, we should not convert IntEnums to ints
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result, expected)
+
+        expected = np.array([1, 2], dtype=np.int64)
+        result = lib.maybe_convert_objects(ind.values, convert_intenum=True)
+
+        # still coverts to int if convert_intenum set to True
+        tm.assert_numpy_array_equal(result, expected)
+
     def test_mixed_dtypes_remain_object_array(self):
         # GH14956
         array = np.array([datetime(2015, 1, 1, tzinfo=pytz.utc), 1], dtype=object)