diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
index 086f19af7750..194b2cdef628 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/axes/_axes.py
@@ -5873,10 +5873,10 @@ def table(self, **kwargs):
                 colLabels=None, colColours=None, colLoc='center',
                 loc='bottom', bbox=None):
 
-        Returns a :class:`matplotlib.table.Table` instance.  For finer
-        grained control over tables, use the
-        :class:`~matplotlib.table.Table` class and add it to the axes
-        with :meth:`~matplotlib.axes.Axes.add_table`.
+        Returns a :class:`matplotlib.table.Table` instance. Either `cellText`
+        or `cellColours` must be provided. For finer grained control over
+        tables, use the :class:`~matplotlib.table.Table` class and add it to
+        the axes with :meth:`~matplotlib.axes.Axes.add_table`.
 
         Thanks to John Gill for providing the class and table.
 
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/table.py b/lib/matplotlib/table.py
index c765ec1fb072..14407ed21695 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/table.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/table.py
@@ -581,6 +581,10 @@ def table(ax,
     Thanks to John Gill for providing the class and table.
     """
 
+    if cellColours is None and cellText is None:
+        raise ValueError('At least one argument from "cellColours" or '
+                         '"cellText" must be provided to create a table.')
+
     # Check we have some cellText
     if cellText is None:
         # assume just colours are needed