diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/legend.py b/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
index 798121c8aa7d..243064a492ec 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
@@ -357,8 +357,8 @@ def __init__(self, parent, handles, labels,
 
         self.legendPatch = FancyBboxPatch(
             xy=(0.0, 0.0), width=1., height=1.,
-            facecolor=rcParams["axes.facecolor"],
-            edgecolor=rcParams["axes.edgecolor"],
+            facecolor=facecolor,
+            edgecolor=edgecolor,
             mutation_scale=self._fontsize,
             snap=True
             )