diff --git a/partitioner.go b/partitioner.go
index a66e11ea3..9da871391 100644
--- a/partitioner.go
+++ b/partitioner.go
@@ -61,9 +61,9 @@ func WithCustomHashFunction(hasher func() hash.Hash32) HashPartitionerOption {
 }
 
 // WithCustomFallbackPartitioner lets you specify what HashPartitioner should be used in case a Distribution Key is empty
-func WithCustomFallbackPartitioner(randomHP *hashPartitioner) HashPartitionerOption {
+func WithCustomFallbackPartitioner(randomHP Partitioner) HashPartitionerOption {
 	return func(hp *hashPartitioner) {
-		hp.random = hp
+		hp.random = randomHP
 	}
 }
 
diff --git a/partitioner_test.go b/partitioner_test.go
index 9c0161122..06a4ad725 100644
--- a/partitioner_test.go
+++ b/partitioner_test.go
@@ -207,6 +207,36 @@ func TestManualPartitioner(t *testing.T) {
 	}
 }
 
+func TestWithCustomFallbackPartitioner(t *testing.T) {
+	topic := "mytopic"
+
+	partitioner := NewCustomPartitioner(
+		// override default random partitioner with round robin
+		WithCustomFallbackPartitioner(NewRoundRobinPartitioner(topic)),
+	)(topic)
+
+	// Should use round robin implementation if there is no key
+	var i int32
+	for i = 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		choice, err := partitioner.Partition(&ProducerMessage{Key: nil}, 7)
+		if err != nil {
+			t.Error(partitioner, err)
+		}
+		if choice != i%7 {
+			t.Error("Returned partition", choice, "expecting", i%7)
+		}
+	}
+
+	// should use hash partitioner if key is specified
+	buf := make([]byte, 256)
+	for i := 0; i < 50; i++ {
+		if _, err := rand.Read(buf); err != nil {
+			t.Error(err)
+		}
+		assertPartitioningConsistent(t, partitioner, &ProducerMessage{Key: ByteEncoder(buf)}, 50)
+	}
+}
+
 // By default, Sarama uses the message's key to consistently assign a partition to
 // a message using hashing. If no key is set, a random partition will be chosen.
 // This example shows how you can partition messages randomly, even when a key is set,