left_key, right_key, count, sort=sort
    )

    if sort or len(left_ax) != len(left_indexer):
        # if asked to sort or there are 1-to-many matches
        join_index = left_ax.take(left_indexer)
        return join_index, left_indexer, right_indexer

    # left frame preserves order & length of its index
    return left_ax, None, right_indexer