diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-03-06-AL.rst b/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-03-06-AL.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..abc8508719df
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/next_api_changes/2019-03-06-AL.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,5 @@
+Deprecations
+````````````
+
+``cbook.is_hashable`` is deprecated (use
+``isinstance(..., collections.abc.Hashable)`` instead).
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py b/lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py
index 258884157b27..248ceb524b29 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/cbook/__init__.py
@@ -350,6 +350,7 @@ def iterable(obj):
     return True
 
 
+@deprecated("3.1", alternative="isinstance(..., collections.abc.Hashable)")
 def is_hashable(obj):
     """Returns true if *obj* can be hashed"""
     try:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/legend.py b/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
index d2c07f562478..3f5e2928c779 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/legend.py
@@ -754,18 +754,15 @@ def get_legend_handler(legend_handler_map, orig_handle):
         method-resolution-order. If no matching key is found, it
         returns ``None``.
         """
-        if is_hashable(orig_handle):
-            try:
-                return legend_handler_map[orig_handle]
-            except KeyError:
-                pass
-
+        try:
+            return legend_handler_map[orig_handle]
+        except (TypeError, KeyError):  # TypeError if unhashable.
+            pass
         for handle_type in type(orig_handle).mro():
             try:
                 return legend_handler_map[handle_type]
             except KeyError:
                 pass
-
         return None
 
     def _init_legend_box(self, handles, labels, markerfirst=True):