diff --git a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/hist.py b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/hist.py
index 8957389ac2b13..f8b2c7ab123d0 100644
--- a/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/hist.py
+++ b/pandas/plotting/_matplotlib/hist.py
@@ -250,7 +250,8 @@ def _grouped_hist(
     def plot_group(group, ax):
         ax.hist(group.dropna().values, bins=bins, **kwargs)
 
-    xrot = xrot or rot
+    if xrot is None:
+        xrot = rot
 
     fig, axes = _grouped_plot(
         plot_group,