Muhyiddin Yassin had criticised Mr Najib's handling of allegations surrounding a state investment fund. Mr Najib has denied allegations that nearly $700m (£450m) were transferred to his personal bank accounts from the 1MDB fund, which he set up in 2009.
Attorney General Abdul Gani Patail, who led the investigation into the scandal, was also replaced, said state media. The statement carried by the Bernama news agency said his dismissal was on health grounds.
The BBC's Jennifer Pak in Kuala Lumpur says that with these latest developments, Malaysians have doubts about whether the truth of the scandal will come out.
Though Mr Najib appears to have bought himself some time, there is continuing pressure and he still faces a lot of questions from opposition parties as well as from within his own party, the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), says our correspondent.
'Strong team'
Announcing the dismissal of Mr Muhyiddin on television, Mr Najib said that differences in opinion were "not supposed to be expressed in an open forum, which is against the concept of collective responsibility in the government".
He said the decision was "a very difficult one, but I had to do it so a strong team can move forward".
Mr Muhyiddin has been replaced by former home minister, Zahid Hamidi, said Mr Najib. Four other ministers have also been replaced in a cabinet reshuffle.
On Sunday night, Mr Muhyiddin had spoken on the 1MDB issue at an Umno party meeting which was covered by local media. He revealed he had urged Mr Najib to step down from 1MDB.
The Malaysian Insider quoted him saying: "I told him to let go of his post in 1MDB, but he didn't want to listen...I don't have any evil intention, my will is to help him." He also called on Mr Najib to personally explain the issue.
"[The ministers] cannot explain properly because even we don't know the real facts, so who is going to tell us the real facts, it should be the prime minister, true or not," he was reported as saying by The Star. 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad) says it has never given money to Mr Najib and that the allegations are unsubstantiated.
Mr Najib says he is the victim of "political sabotage" and has accused influential former prime minister Mahathir Mohamed of orchestrating a smear campaign to topple him.
bbc.com
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