diff --git a/NEWS.md b/NEWS.md
index dcd22bdd8d..c1ad8337ad 100644
--- a/NEWS.md
+++ b/NEWS.md
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 # ggplot2 (development version)
 
+* Fixed bug in `guide_custom()` that would throw error with `theme_void()` 
+  (@teunbrand, #5856).
 * New helper function `ggpar()` to translate ggplot2's interpretation of 
   graphical parameters to {grid}'s interpretation (@teunbrand, #5866).
 
@@ -23,7 +25,7 @@ documentation updates.
   (@teunbrand, #5757).
   
 ## Improvements
-  
+
 * When facets coerce the faceting variables to factors, the 'ordered' class
   is dropped (@teunbrand, #5666).
 * `coord_map()` and `coord_polar()` throw informative warnings when used
diff --git a/R/guide-custom.R b/R/guide-custom.R
index 16a737d3fd..990712b36b 100644
--- a/R/guide-custom.R
+++ b/R/guide-custom.R
@@ -117,7 +117,7 @@ GuideCustom <- ggproto(
     )
 
     # Add padding and background
-    gt <- gtable_add_padding(gt, elems$margin)
+    gt <- gtable_add_padding(gt, elems$margin %||% margin())
 
     gt <- gtable_add_grob(
       gt, element_grob(elems$background),
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/guide-custom-with-void-theme.svg b/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/guide-custom-with-void-theme.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..ac52f62280
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/guide-custom-with-void-theme.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,34 @@
+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' ?>
+<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' class='svglite' data-engine-version='2.0' width='720.00pt' height='576.00pt' viewBox='0 0 720.00 576.00'>
+<defs>
+  <style type='text/css'><![CDATA[
+    .svglite line, .svglite polyline, .svglite polygon, .svglite path, .svglite rect, .svglite circle {
+      fill: none;
+      stroke: #000000;
+      stroke-linecap: round;
+      stroke-linejoin: round;
+      stroke-miterlimit: 10.00;
+    }
+  ]]></style>
+</defs>
+<rect width='100%' height='100%' style='stroke: none; fill: #FFFFFF;'/>
+<defs>
+  <clipPath id='cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA='>
+    <rect x='0.00' y='0.00' width='720.00' height='576.00' />
+  </clipPath>
+</defs>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA=)'>
+</g>
+<defs>
+  <clipPath id='cpMC4wMHw2NDguODl8MTcuMzB8NTc2LjAw'>
+    <rect x='0.00' y='17.30' width='648.89' height='558.70' />
+  </clipPath>
+</defs>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpMC4wMHw2NDguODl8MTcuMzB8NTc2LjAw)'>
+</g>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA=)'>
+<text x='654.56' y='269.35' style='font-size: 11.00px; font-family: sans;' textLength='65.44px' lengthAdjust='spacingAndGlyphs'>custom guide</text>
+<circle cx='682.91' cy='304.32' r='28.35' style='stroke-width: 0.75; fill: #FFFFFF;' />
+<text x='0.00' y='14.56' style='font-size: 13.20px; font-family: sans;' textLength='177.59px' lengthAdjust='spacingAndGlyphs'>guide_custom with void theme</text>
+</g>
+</svg>
diff --git a/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/stylised-guide-custom.svg b/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/stylised-guide-custom.svg
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..85d3aa01f9
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/testthat/_snaps/guides/stylised-guide-custom.svg
@@ -0,0 +1,37 @@
+<?xml version='1.0' encoding='UTF-8' ?>
+<svg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' xmlns:xlink='http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink' class='svglite' data-engine-version='2.0' width='720.00pt' height='576.00pt' viewBox='0 0 720.00 576.00'>
+<defs>
+  <style type='text/css'><![CDATA[
+    .svglite line, .svglite polyline, .svglite polygon, .svglite path, .svglite rect, .svglite circle {
+      fill: none;
+      stroke: #000000;
+      stroke-linecap: round;
+      stroke-linejoin: round;
+      stroke-miterlimit: 10.00;
+    }
+  ]]></style>
+</defs>
+<rect width='100%' height='100%' style='stroke: none; fill: #FFFFFF;'/>
+<defs>
+  <clipPath id='cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA='>
+    <rect x='0.00' y='0.00' width='720.00' height='576.00' />
+  </clipPath>
+</defs>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA=)'>
+<rect x='0.00' y='0.00' width='720.00' height='576.00' style='stroke-width: 1.07; stroke: #FFFFFF; fill: #FFFFFF;' />
+</g>
+<defs>
+  <clipPath id='cpNS40OHw2MjAuNTh8MjIuNzh8NTcwLjUy'>
+    <rect x='5.48' y='22.78' width='615.10' height='547.74' />
+  </clipPath>
+</defs>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpNS40OHw2MjAuNTh8MjIuNzh8NTcwLjUy)'>
+<rect x='5.48' y='22.78' width='615.10' height='547.74' style='stroke-width: 1.07; stroke: none; fill: #EBEBEB;' />
+</g>
+<g clip-path='url(#cpMC4wMHw3MjAuMDB8MC4wMHw1NzYuMDA=)'>
+<rect x='631.54' y='258.45' width='82.99' height='76.40' style='stroke-width: 1.07; stroke: none; fill: #7F7F7F;' />
+<text transform='translate(645.73,296.65) rotate(-90)' text-anchor='middle' style='font-size: 11.00px; font-family: sans;' textLength='65.44px' lengthAdjust='spacingAndGlyphs'>custom guide</text>
+<circle cx='680.69' cy='296.65' r='28.35' style='stroke-width: 0.75; fill: #FFFFFF;' />
+<text x='5.48' y='14.56' style='font-size: 13.20px; font-family: sans;' textLength='129.90px' lengthAdjust='spacingAndGlyphs'>stylised guide_custom</text>
+</g>
+</svg>
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-guides.R b/tests/testthat/test-guides.R
index bc359938ae..4930188025 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-guides.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-guides.R
@@ -1273,3 +1273,23 @@ test_that("old S3 guides can be implemented", {
     )
   )
 })
+
+test_that("guide_custom can be drawn and styled", {
+
+  p <- ggplot() + guides(custom = guide_custom(
+    circleGrob(r = unit(1, "cm")),
+    title = "custom guide"
+  ))
+
+  expect_doppelganger(
+    "stylised guide_custom",
+    p + theme(legend.background = element_rect(fill = "grey50"),
+              legend.title.position = "left",
+              legend.title = element_text(angle = 90, hjust = 0.5))
+  )
+
+  expect_doppelganger(
+    "guide_custom with void theme",
+    p + theme_void()
+  )
+})