The present invention relates to a beam optical component (1, 201) for acting on a charged particle beam (63) including a first element (3; 203) having a first opening (9; 209) for acting on the charged particle beam (63), at least a second element (5; 205) for acting on the charged particle beam (63); at least one distance piece (20a, 20b, 20c) positioned between the first element (3; 203) and the second element (5; 205) to define a minimum distance between the first element (3; 203) and the second element (5; 205); and a first holding piece (30a; 30b; 30c) for abutting the first element (3) to the at least one distance piece (20a, 20b, 20c), whereby the first holding piece (30a; 30b; 30c) is attached to the at least one distance piece (20a, 20b, 20c). First and second elements (3; 203; 5; 205) are preferably electrodes or pole pieces to act on the charged particle beam by an electrostatic or magnetic force. With the first holding piece (30a; 30b; 30c) attached to the at least one distance piece, distorting mechanical forces on the first and second elements (3, 5) are reduced which improves the performance of the respective beam optical components (1; 201).