diff --git a/aegisub/libaegisub/common/option_visit.cpp b/aegisub/libaegisub/common/option_visit.cpp
index 83a13e7be..b1d8bd82c 100644
--- a/aegisub/libaegisub/common/option_visit.cpp
+++ b/aegisub/libaegisub/common/option_visit.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 #include <libaegisub/option_value.h>
 #include <libaegisub/scoped_ptr.h>
 
+#include <boost/algorithm/string/predicate.hpp>
+
 namespace agi {
 
 ConfigVisitor::ConfigVisitor(OptionValueMap &val, const std::string &member_name, bool ignore_errors, bool replace)
@@ -117,7 +119,12 @@ void ConfigVisitor::Visit(const json::Double& number) {
 }
 
 void ConfigVisitor::Visit(const json::String& string) {
-	if (string.size() && (string.find("rgb(") == 0 || string[0] == '#' || string[0] == '&')) {
+	size_t size = string.size();
+	if ((size == 4 && string[0] == '#') ||
+		(size == 7 && string[0] == '#') ||
+		(size >= 10 && boost::starts_with(string, "rgb(")) ||
+		((size == 9 || size == 10) && boost::starts_with(string, "&H")))
+	{
 		AddOptionValue(new OptionValueColor(name, string));
 	} else {
 		AddOptionValue(new OptionValueString(name, string));
diff --git a/aegisub/tests/libaegisub_option.cpp b/aegisub/tests/libaegisub_option.cpp
index 2a22646d4..9210986e9 100644
--- a/aegisub/tests/libaegisub_option.cpp
+++ b/aegisub/tests/libaegisub_option.cpp
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-	// Copyright (c) 2011, Thomas Goyne <plorkyeran@aegisub.org>
+// Copyright (c) 2011, Thomas Goyne <plorkyeran@aegisub.org>
 //
 // Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software for any
 // purpose with or without fee is hereby granted, provided that the above
@@ -261,3 +261,21 @@ TEST_F(lagi_option, empty_array_decays_to_first_used_type) {
 		EXPECT_THROW(opt.Get("arr")->GetListInt(),    agi::OptionValueErrorInvalidListType);
 	}
 }
+
+#define CHECK_TYPE(str, type) \
+	do { \
+		agi::Options opt("", "{ \"" str "\" : \"" str "\" }", agi::Options::FLUSH_SKIP); \
+		EXPECT_NO_THROW(opt.Get(str)->Get##type()); \
+	} while (false)
+
+TEST_F(lagi_option, color_vs_string) {
+	CHECK_TYPE("#", String);
+	CHECK_TYPE("#a", String);
+	CHECK_TYPE("#abc", Color);
+	CHECK_TYPE("#aabbcc", Color);
+	CHECK_TYPE("#aabb", String);
+
+	CHECK_TYPE("&", String);
+	CHECK_TYPE("&H000000&", Color);
+	CHECK_TYPE("&H00000000", Color);
+}