diff --git a/bar.c b/bar.c
index 83f7634..1f8c5cf 100644
--- a/bar.c
+++ b/bar.c
@@ -156,9 +156,17 @@ parse_color (const char *str, char **end, const uint32_t def)
     if (str[0] == '#') {
         errno = 0;
         uint32_t tmp = strtoul(str + 1, end, 16);
-        /* Some error checking it's good */
+        /* Some error checking is definitely good */
         if (errno)
-            return def;
+            tmp = def;
+        /* Xorg uses colors with premultiplied alpha.
+         * Don't do anything if we didn't acquire a rgba visual. */
+        if (visual != scr->root_visual) {
+            const uint8_t a = ((tmp>>24)&255);
+            const uint32_t t1 = (tmp&0xff00ff) * (0x100-a);
+            const uint32_t t2 = (tmp&0x00ff00) * (0x100-a);
+            tmp = (a<<24)|(t1&0xff00ff)|(t2&0x00ff00);
+        }
         return tmp;
     }