diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/axes_grid1/inset_locator.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/axes_grid1/inset_locator.py
index 30483fba06ff..c7bbdd6b185e 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/axes_grid1/inset_locator.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/axes_grid1/inset_locator.py
@@ -308,7 +308,11 @@ def __init__(self, bbox1, bbox2, loc1, loc2=None, **kwargs):
             raise ValueError("transform should not be set")
 
         kwargs["transform"] = IdentityTransform()
-        Patch.__init__(self, fill=False, **kwargs)
+        if 'fill' in kwargs:
+            Patch.__init__(self, **kwargs)
+        else:
+            fill = ('fc' in kwargs) or ('facecolor' in kwargs) or ('color' in kwargs)
+            Patch.__init__(self, fill=fill, **kwargs)
         self.bbox1 = bbox1
         self.bbox2 = bbox2
         self.loc1 = loc1
@@ -581,8 +585,11 @@ def mark_inset(parent_axes, inset_axes, loc1, loc2, **kwargs):
     """
     rect = TransformedBbox(inset_axes.viewLim, parent_axes.transData)
 
-    fill = kwargs.pop("fill", False)
-    pp = BboxPatch(rect, fill=fill, **kwargs)
+    if 'fill' in kwargs:
+        pp = BboxPatch(rect, **kwargs)
+    else:
+        fill = ('fc' in kwargs) or ('facecolor' in kwargs) or ('color' in kwargs)
+        pp = BboxPatch(rect, fill=fill, **kwargs)
     parent_axes.add_patch(pp)
 
     p1 = BboxConnector(inset_axes.bbox, rect, loc1=loc1, **kwargs)
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_axes_grid1/fill_facecolor.png b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_axes_grid1/fill_facecolor.png
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..4391e179be9f
Binary files /dev/null and b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/baseline_images/test_axes_grid1/fill_facecolor.png differ
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_axes_grid1.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_axes_grid1.py
index 740eb37889bd..e5eef506461c 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_axes_grid1.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/tests/test_axes_grid1.py
@@ -12,11 +12,14 @@
 from mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1.inset_locator import (
     zoomed_inset_axes,
     mark_inset,
-    inset_axes
+    inset_axes,
+    BboxConnectorPatch
 )
 from mpl_toolkits.axes_grid1.anchored_artists import AnchoredSizeBar
 
 from matplotlib.colors import LogNorm
+from matplotlib.transforms import Bbox, TransformedBbox, \
+     blended_transform_factory
 from itertools import product
 
 import numpy as np
@@ -226,6 +229,86 @@ def test_inset_axes_without_transform_should_use_parent_axes():
     assert ax.transAxes == ax_ins.transAxes
 
 
+@image_comparison(
+    baseline_images=['fill_facecolor'], extensions=['png'],
+    remove_text=True, style='mpl20')
+def test_fill_facecolor():
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots(1, 5)
+    fig.set_size_inches(5, 5)
+    for i in range(1, 4):
+        ax[i].yaxis.set_visible(False)
+    ax[4].yaxis.tick_right()
+    bbox = Bbox.from_extents(0, 0.4, 1, 0.6)
+
+    # fill with blue by setting 'fc' field
+    bbox1 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[0].transData)
+    bbox2 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[1].transData)
+    # set color to BboxConnectorPatch
+    p = BboxConnectorPatch(
+        bbox1, bbox2, loc1a=1, loc2a=2, loc1b=4, loc2b=3,
+        ec="r", fc="b")
+    p.set_clip_on(False)
+    ax[0].add_patch(p)
+    # set color to marked area
+    axins = zoomed_inset_axes(ax[0], 1, loc=1)
+    axins.set_xlim(0, 0.2)
+    axins.set_ylim(0, 0.2)
+    plt.gca().axes.get_xaxis().set_ticks([])
+    plt.gca().axes.get_yaxis().set_ticks([])
+    mark_inset(ax[0], axins, loc1=2, loc2=4, fc="b", ec="0.5")
+
+    # fill with yellow by setting 'facecolor' field
+    bbox3 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[1].transData)
+    bbox4 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[2].transData)
+    # set color to BboxConnectorPatch
+    p = BboxConnectorPatch(
+        bbox3, bbox4, loc1a=1, loc2a=2, loc1b=4, loc2b=3,
+        ec="r", facecolor="y")
+    p.set_clip_on(False)
+    ax[1].add_patch(p)
+    # set color to marked area
+    axins = zoomed_inset_axes(ax[1], 1, loc=1)
+    axins.set_xlim(0, 0.2)
+    axins.set_ylim(0, 0.2)
+    plt.gca().axes.get_xaxis().set_ticks([])
+    plt.gca().axes.get_yaxis().set_ticks([])
+    mark_inset(ax[1], axins, loc1=2, loc2=4, facecolor="y", ec="0.5")
+
+    # fill with green by setting 'color' field
+    bbox5 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[2].transData)
+    bbox6 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[3].transData)
+    # set color to BboxConnectorPatch
+    p = BboxConnectorPatch(
+        bbox5, bbox6, loc1a=1, loc2a=2, loc1b=4, loc2b=3,
+        ec="r", color="g")
+    p.set_clip_on(False)
+    ax[2].add_patch(p)
+    # set color to marked area
+    axins = zoomed_inset_axes(ax[2], 1, loc=1)
+    axins.set_xlim(0, 0.2)
+    axins.set_ylim(0, 0.2)
+    plt.gca().axes.get_xaxis().set_ticks([])
+    plt.gca().axes.get_yaxis().set_ticks([])
+    mark_inset(ax[2], axins, loc1=2, loc2=4, color="g", ec="0.5")
+
+    # fill with green but color won't show if set fill to False
+    bbox7 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[3].transData)
+    bbox8 = TransformedBbox(bbox, ax[4].transData)
+    # BboxConnectorPatch won't show green
+    p = BboxConnectorPatch(
+        bbox7, bbox8, loc1a=1, loc2a=2, loc1b=4, loc2b=3,
+        ec="r", fc="g", fill=False)
+    p.set_clip_on(False)
+    ax[3].add_patch(p)
+    # marked area won't show green
+    axins = zoomed_inset_axes(ax[3], 1, loc=1)
+    axins.set_xlim(0, 0.2)
+    axins.set_ylim(0, 0.2)
+    axins.get_xaxis().set_ticks([])
+    axins.get_yaxis().set_ticks([])
+    mark_inset(ax[3], axins, loc1=2, loc2=4, fc="g", ec="0.5", fill=False)
+
+
 @image_comparison(baseline_images=['zoomed_axes',
                                    'inverted_zoomed_axes'],
                   extensions=['png'])