diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index b1c0d2f183..09c0f77f6f 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -1,6 +1,9 @@
 ggplot2 1.0.1.9000
 ----------------------------------------------------------------
 
+* `guide_colorbar()` no longer fails when the legend is empty - previously
+  this often masked misspecifications elsewhere in the plot (#967)
+
 * `Geom` is now exported, making it easier to create new geoms in other
   packages (#989).
 
diff --git a/R/guide-colorbar.r b/R/guide-colorbar.r
index 8a895a78ca..747fac9e5e 100644
--- a/R/guide-colorbar.r
+++ b/R/guide-colorbar.r
@@ -185,6 +185,10 @@ guide_train.colorbar <- function(guide, scale) {
   guide$key <- data.frame(scale_map(scale, breaks), I(scale_labels(scale, breaks)), breaks,
                           stringsAsFactors = FALSE)
 
+  if (nrow(guide$key) == 0) {
+    return()
+  }
+
   # .value = breaks (numeric) is used for determining the position of ticks in gengrob
   names(guide$key) <- c(output, ".label", ".value")