diff --git a/CHANGES.rst b/CHANGES.rst
index 64f94e14ec3..e1cc14bbe55 100644
--- a/CHANGES.rst
+++ b/CHANGES.rst
@@ -66,6 +66,8 @@ Features added
   Patch by Adam Turner.
 * #13805: LaTeX: add support for ``fontawesome7`` package.
   Patch by Jean-François B.
+* #13876: Group nodes generated by :kbd: role and add class to separators
+  Patch by Brecht Machiels.
 
 Bugs fixed
 ----------
diff --git a/sphinx/roles.py b/sphinx/roles.py
index cadfb5a027b..dc5c3b599b9 100644
--- a/sphinx/roles.py
+++ b/sphinx/roles.py
@@ -491,27 +491,24 @@ def run(self) -> tuple[list[Node], list[system_message]]:
         if 'classes' in self.options:
             classes.extend(self.options['classes'])
 
+        compound = nodes.inline(self.rawtext, classes=['kbdcompound'])
         parts = self._pattern.split(self.text)
-        if len(parts) == 1 or self._is_multi_word_key(parts):
-            return [nodes.literal(self.rawtext, self.text, classes=classes)], []
-
-        compound: list[Node] = []
         while parts:
             if self._is_multi_word_key(parts):
                 key = ''.join(parts[:3])
                 parts[:3] = []
             else:
                 key = parts.pop(0)
-            compound.append(nodes.literal(key, key, classes=classes))
+            compound += nodes.literal(key, key, classes=['kbd'])
 
             try:
                 sep = parts.pop(0)  # key separator ('-', '+', '^', etc)
             except IndexError:
                 break
             else:
-                compound.append(nodes.Text(sep))
+                compound += nodes.inline(sep, sep, classes=['kbdsep'])
 
-        return compound, []
+        return [compound], []
 
     @staticmethod
     def _is_multi_word_key(parts: list[str]) -> bool:
diff --git a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
index db9dd8a749c..50d3ff297d9 100644
--- a/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
+++ b/tests/test_builders/test_build_html_5_output.py
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ def checker(nodes: Iterable[Element]) -> Literal[True]:
         ('markup.html', './/li/p/strong', r'^command\\n$'),
         ('markup.html', './/li/p/strong', r'^program\\n$'),
         ('markup.html', './/li/p/em', r'^dfn\\n$'),
-        ('markup.html', './/li/p/kbd', r'^kbd\\n$'),
+        ('markup.html', './/li/p/span/kbd', r'^kbd\\n$'),
         ('markup.html', './/li/p/span', 'File \N{TRIANGULAR BULLET} Close'),
         ('markup.html', ".//li/p/code/span[@class='pre']", '^a/$'),
         ('markup.html', ".//li/p/code/em/span[@class='pre']", '^varpart$'),
diff --git a/tests/test_markup/test_markup.py b/tests/test_markup/test_markup.py
index fb4df4c400b..03b0e12b5dd 100644
--- a/tests/test_markup/test_markup.py
+++ b/tests/test_markup/test_markup.py
@@ -332,8 +332,19 @@ def get_verifier(verify, verify_re):
             # kbd role
             'verify',
             ':kbd:`space`',
-            '<p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">space</kbd></p>',
-            '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{space}}',
+            (
+                '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
+                '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">space</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
+                '</p>'
+            ),
+            (
+                '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
+                '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{space}}'
+                '}'
+            ),
         ),
         (
             # kbd role
@@ -341,16 +352,20 @@ def get_verifier(verify, verify_re):
             ':kbd:`Control+X`',
             (
                 '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Control</kbd>'
-                '+'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">+</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">X</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
                 '</p>'
             ),
             (
                 '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{Control}}'
-                '+'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{+}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{X}}'
+                '}'
             ),
         ),
         (
@@ -359,16 +374,20 @@ def get_verifier(verify, verify_re):
             ':kbd:`Alt+^`',
             (
                 '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Alt</kbd>'
-                '+'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">+</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">^</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
                 '</p>'
             ),
             (
                 '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{Alt}}'
-                '+'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{+}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{\\textasciicircum{}}}'
+                '}'
             ),
         ),
         (
@@ -377,46 +396,83 @@ def get_verifier(verify, verify_re):
             ':kbd:`M-x  M-s`',
             (
                 '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">M</kbd>'
-                '-'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">-</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">x</kbd>'
-                '  '
+                '<span class="kbdsep">  </span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">M</kbd>'
-                '-'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">-</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">s</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
                 '</p>'
             ),
             (
                 '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{M}}'
-                '\\sphinxhyphen{}'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{\\sphinxhyphen{}}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{x}}'
-                '  '
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{  }'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{M}}'
-                '\\sphinxhyphen{}'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{\\sphinxhyphen{}}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{s}}'
+                '}'
             ),
         ),
         (
             # kbd role
             'verify',
             ':kbd:`-`',
-            '<p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">-</kbd></p>',
-            '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{\\sphinxhyphen{}}}',
+            (
+                '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
+                '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">-</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
+                '</p>'
+            ),
+            (
+                '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
+                '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{\\sphinxhyphen{}}}'
+                '}'
+            ),
         ),
         (
             # kbd role
             'verify',
             ':kbd:`Caps Lock`',
-            '<p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Caps Lock</kbd></p>',
-            '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{Caps Lock}}',
+            (
+                '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
+                '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">Caps Lock</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
+                '</p>'
+            ),
+            (
+                '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
+                '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{Caps Lock}}'
+                '}'
+            ),
         ),
         (
             # kbd role
             'verify',
             ':kbd:`sys   rq`',
-            '<p><kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">sys   rq</kbd></p>',
-            '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{sys   rq}}',
+            (
+                '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
+                '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">sys   rq</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
+                '</p>'
+            ),
+            (
+                '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
+                '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{sys   rq}}'
+                '}'
+            ),
         ),
         (
             # kbd role
@@ -424,20 +480,24 @@ def get_verifier(verify, verify_re):
             ':kbd:`⌘+⇧+M`',
             (
                 '<p>'
+                '<span class="kbdcompound">'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">⌘</kbd>'
-                '+'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">+</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">⇧</kbd>'
-                '+'
+                '<span class="kbdsep">+</span>'
                 '<kbd class="kbd docutils literal notranslate">M</kbd>'
+                '</span>'
                 '</p>'
             ),
             (
                 '\\sphinxAtStartPar\n'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdcompound}{'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{⌘}}'
-                '+'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{+}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{⇧}}'
-                '+'
+                '\\DUrole{kbdsep}{+}'
                 '\\sphinxkeyboard{\\sphinxupquote{M}}'
+                '}'
             ),
         ),
         (