diff --git a/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/23647-OG.rst b/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/23647-OG.rst
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..ee44f491812f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/doc/api/next_api_changes/deprecations/23647-OG.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,6 @@
+``mplot3d.axis3d.Axis.set_pane_pos``
+~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
+
+... is deprecated. This is an internal method where the provided values are
+overwritten during drawing. Hence, it does not serve any purpose to be
+directly accessible.
diff --git a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
index fff4a4f71701..65e268461d98 100644
--- a/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
+++ b/lib/mpl_toolkits/mplot3d/axis3d.py
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 from matplotlib import (
     _api, artist, lines as mlines, axis as maxis, patches as mpatches,
-    transforms as mtransforms, rcParams)
+    transforms as mtransforms, rcParams, colors as mcolors)
 from . import art3d, proj3d
 
 
@@ -148,8 +148,7 @@ def _init3d(self):
 
         # Store dummy data in Polygon object
         self.pane = mpatches.Polygon(
-            np.array([[0, 0], [0, 1], [1, 0], [0, 0]]),
-            closed=False, alpha=0.8, facecolor='k', edgecolor='k')
+            np.array([[0, 0], [0, 1]]), closed=False)
         self.set_pane_color(self._axinfo['color'])
 
         self.axes._set_artist_props(self.line)
@@ -182,14 +181,28 @@ def get_minor_ticks(self, numticks=None):
                 obj.set_transform(self.axes.transData)
         return ticks
 
+    @_api.deprecated("3.6")
     def set_pane_pos(self, xys):
+        self._set_pane_pos(xys)
+
+    def _set_pane_pos(self, xys):
         xys = np.asarray(xys)
         xys = xys[:, :2]
         self.pane.xy = xys
         self.stale = True
 
-    def set_pane_color(self, color):
-        """Set pane color to a RGBA tuple."""
+    def set_pane_color(self, color, alpha=None):
+        """
+        Set pane color.
+
+        Parameters
+        ----------
+        color : color
+            Color for axis pane.
+        alpha : float, optional
+            Alpha value for axis pane. If None, base it on *color*.
+        """
+        color = mcolors.to_rgba(color, alpha)
         self._axinfo['color'] = color
         self.pane.set_edgecolor(color)
         self.pane.set_facecolor(color)
@@ -290,7 +303,7 @@ def draw_pane(self, renderer):
         else:
             plane = self._PLANES[2 * index + 1]
         xys = [tc[p] for p in plane]
-        self.set_pane_pos(xys)
+        self._set_pane_pos(xys)
         self.pane.draw(renderer)
 
         renderer.close_group('pane3d')