diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index aa8854dcfe4..b9cb7693c9b 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ Note that this project **does not** adhere to [Semantic Versioning](http://semve
 
 ### Fixed
 
+- We fixed an issue where the user could not rate an entry in the main table when an entry was not yet ranked. [#5842](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/5842)
 - We fixed an issue that caused JabRef to sometimes open multiple instances when "Remote Operation" is enabled. [#8653](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/8653)
 - We fixed an issue where linked files with the filetype "application/pdf" in an entry were not shown with the correct PDF-Icon in the main table [8930](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/8930)
 - We fixed an issue where "open folder" for linked files did not open the folder and did not select the file unter certain Linux desktop environments [#8679](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/8679), [#8849](https://github.com/JabRef/jabref/issues/8849)
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Base.css b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Base.css
index 188182d5151..f1829b7cc7e 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Base.css
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Base.css
@@ -1305,3 +1305,16 @@ TextFlow * {
 .text-field:invalid {
     -fx-background-color: rgba(240, 128, 128, 0.5);
 }
+
+.rating {
+    -fx-skin: "org.jabref.gui.util.CustomRatingSkin";
+    -fx-padding: 0.5em 0px 0px 0px;
+}
+
+.rating > .container > .button {
+    -fx-icon-color: derive(-fx-text-base-color, 85%);
+}
+
+.rating > .container > .button.strong {
+    -fx-icon-color: -fx-text-base-color;
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Dark.css b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Dark.css
index adaa1cd1a83..0c23ea36773 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Dark.css
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/Dark.css
@@ -132,3 +132,11 @@
 .notification-bar > .pane {
     -fx-background-color: -fx-light-text-color;
 }
+
+.rating > .container > .button {
+    -fx-icon-color: derive(-fx-light-text-color, -50%);
+}
+
+.rating > .container > .button.strong {
+    -fx-icon-color: -fx-light-text-color;
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/maintable/columns/SpecialFieldColumn.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/maintable/columns/SpecialFieldColumn.java
index 271a7abe4cb..971bb5e0f69 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/maintable/columns/SpecialFieldColumn.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/maintable/columns/SpecialFieldColumn.java
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 import javafx.scene.control.MenuItem;
 import javafx.scene.control.Tooltip;
 import javafx.scene.input.MouseButton;
+import javafx.scene.input.MouseEvent;
 
 import org.jabref.gui.icon.JabRefIcon;
 import org.jabref.gui.maintable.BibEntryTableViewModel;
@@ -55,7 +56,7 @@ public SpecialFieldColumn(MainTableColumnModel model, PreferencesService prefere
             MainTableColumnFactory.setExactWidth(this, SpecialFieldsPreferences.COLUMN_RANKING_WIDTH);
             this.setResizable(false);
             new OptionalValueTableCellFactory<BibEntryTableViewModel, SpecialFieldValueViewModel>()
-                    .withGraphicIfPresent(this::createSpecialRating)
+                    .withGraphic(this::createSpecialRating)
                     .install(this);
         } else {
             MainTableColumnFactory.setExactWidth(this, ColumnPreferences.ICON_COLUMN_WIDTH);
@@ -89,9 +90,24 @@ public SpecialFieldColumn(MainTableColumnModel model, PreferencesService prefere
         this.setSortable(true);
     }
 
-    private Rating createSpecialRating(BibEntryTableViewModel entry, SpecialFieldValueViewModel value) {
+    private Rating createSpecialRating(BibEntryTableViewModel entry, Optional<SpecialFieldValueViewModel> value) {
         Rating ranking = new Rating();
-        ranking.setRating(value.getValue().toRating());
+
+        if (value.isPresent()) {
+            ranking.setRating(value.get().getValue().toRating());
+        } else {
+            ranking.setRating(0);
+        }
+
+        ranking.addEventFilter(MouseEvent.MOUSE_CLICKED, event -> {
+            if (event.getButton().equals(MouseButton.PRIMARY) && event.getClickCount() == 2) {
+                ranking.setRating(0);
+                event.consume();
+            } else if (event.getButton().equals(MouseButton.SECONDARY)) {
+                event.consume();
+            }
+        });
+
         EasyBind.subscribe(ranking.ratingProperty(), rating ->
                 new SpecialFieldViewModel(SpecialField.RANKING, preferencesService, undoManager)
                         .setSpecialFieldValue(entry.getEntry(), SpecialFieldValue.getRating(rating.intValue())));
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/util/CustomRatingSkin.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/util/CustomRatingSkin.java
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..96e6e8d75d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/gui/util/CustomRatingSkin.java
@@ -0,0 +1,21 @@
+package org.jabref.gui.util;
+
+import javafx.scene.Node;
+
+import org.jabref.gui.icon.IconTheme;
+
+import impl.org.controlsfx.skin.RatingSkin;
+import org.controlsfx.control.Rating;
+
+public class CustomRatingSkin extends RatingSkin {
+    public CustomRatingSkin(Rating control) {
+        super(control);
+
+        consumeMouseEvents(false);
+    }
+
+    @Override
+    protected Node createButtonNode() {
+        return IconTheme.JabRefIcons.RANKING.getGraphicNode();
+    }
+}
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/jabref/model/entry/field/SpecialFieldValue.java b/src/main/java/org/jabref/model/entry/field/SpecialFieldValue.java
index d4c1f8df7d5..6c3337b41f6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/jabref/model/entry/field/SpecialFieldValue.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/jabref/model/entry/field/SpecialFieldValue.java
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ public enum SpecialFieldValue {
 
     public static SpecialFieldValue getRating(int ranking) {
         return switch (ranking) {
+            case 0 -> CLEAR_RANK;
             case 1 -> RANK_1;
             case 2 -> RANK_2;
             case 3 -> RANK_3;
@@ -58,6 +59,7 @@ public Optional<String> getFieldValue() {
 
     public int toRating() {
         return switch (this) {
+            case CLEAR_RANK -> 0;
             case RANK_1 -> 1;
             case RANK_2 -> 2;
             case RANK_3 -> 3;