diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/themes.c b/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
index deb71b11..63d38ab2 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/themes.c
@@ -678,7 +678,8 @@ static void theme_read(THEME_REC *theme, const char *path, const char *data)
 		config = config_open(path, -1);
 		if (config == NULL) {
 			/* didn't exist or no access? */
-			theme->default_color = 15;
+			theme->default_color = 0;
+			theme->default_bold_color = 7;
 			return;
 		}
 		config_parse(config);
@@ -706,7 +707,10 @@ static void theme_read(THEME_REC *theme, const char *path, const char *data)
 		}
 	}
 
-	theme->default_color = config_get_int(config, NULL, "default_color", 15);
+	theme->default_color =
+		config_get_int(config, NULL, "default_color", 0);
+	theme->default_bold_color =
+		config_get_int(config, NULL, "default_bold_color", 7);
         theme_read_replaces(config, theme);
 	theme_read_abstracts(config, theme);
 
@@ -1034,7 +1038,8 @@ static void themes_read(void)
 		fname = g_strdup_printf("%s/.irssi/default.theme",
 					g_get_home_dir());
 		current_theme = theme_create(fname, "default");
-		current_theme->default_color = 15;
+		current_theme->default_color = 0;
+		current_theme->default_bold_color = 7;
                 theme_read(current_theme, NULL, default_theme);
 		g_free(fname);
 	}
diff --git a/src/fe-common/core/themes.h b/src/fe-common/core/themes.h
index cfca4c0d..c5be2400 100644
--- a/src/fe-common/core/themes.h
+++ b/src/fe-common/core/themes.h
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ typedef struct {
 	char *path;
 	char *name;
 
-	int default_color;
+	int default_color, default_bold_color;
 	GHashTable *modules;
 
 	GSList *replace_keys;
diff --git a/src/fe-text/gui-printtext.c b/src/fe-text/gui-printtext.c
index ea1b64f2..89359208 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/gui-printtext.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/gui-printtext.c
@@ -266,12 +266,12 @@ static void get_colors(int flags, int *fg, int *bg)
 		/* mirc colors - real range is 0..15, but after 16
 		   colors wrap to 0, 1, ... */
 		*fg = *fg < 0 ?
-			/*current_theme->default_color*/0 : mirc_colors[*fg % 16];
+			current_theme->default_color : mirc_colors[*fg % 16];
 		*bg = *bg < 0 ? 0 : mirc_colors[*bg % 16];
 	} else {
 		/* default colors */
 		*fg = *fg < 0 || *fg > 15 ?
-			/*current_theme->default_color*/0 : *fg;
+			current_theme->default_color : *fg;
 		*bg = *bg < 0 || *bg > 15 ? 0 : *bg;
 
 		if (*fg > 8) *fg -= 8;
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ static void get_colors(int flags, int *fg, int *bg)
 
 	if (*fg == 8) *fg |= ATTR_COLOR8;
 	if (flags & PRINTFLAG_BOLD) {
-		if (*fg == 0) *fg = current_theme->default_color;
+		if (*fg == 0) *fg = current_theme->default_bold_color;
 		*fg |= 8;
 	}
 	if (flags & PRINTFLAG_UNDERLINE) *fg |= ATTR_UNDERLINE;
diff --git a/src/fe-text/screen.c b/src/fe-text/screen.c
index d38ab88f..65f30bf9 100644
--- a/src/fe-text/screen.c
+++ b/src/fe-text/screen.c
@@ -213,11 +213,12 @@ void set_color(WINDOW *window, int col)
 
 	if (!use_colors)
 		attr = (col & 0x70) ? A_REVERSE : 0;
-	else {
-		attr = (col & ATTR_COLOR8) ?
-			(A_DIM | COLOR_PAIR(63)) :
-			(COLOR_PAIR((col&7) + (col&0x70)/2));
-	}
+	else if (col & ATTR_COLOR8)
+                attr = (A_DIM | COLOR_PAIR(63));
+	else if ((col & 0x77) == 0)
+		attr = A_NORMAL;
+	else
+		attr = (COLOR_PAIR((col&7) + (col&0x70)/2));
 
 	if (col & 0x08) attr |= A_BOLD;
 	if (col & 0x80) attr |= A_BLINK;