diff --git a/include/components/parser.hpp b/include/components/parser.hpp
index f933520d..5f113a69 100644
--- a/include/components/parser.hpp
+++ b/include/components/parser.hpp
@@ -47,7 +47,6 @@ class parser {
   std::stack<unsigned int> m_ul;
   std::stack<unsigned int> m_ol;
   std::stack<int> m_fonts;
-  unsigned int m_reversed{0u};
 };
 
 POLYBAR_NS_END
diff --git a/src/components/parser.cpp b/src/components/parser.cpp
index afd5dc7b..af68a645 100644
--- a/src/components/parser.cpp
+++ b/src/components/parser.cpp
@@ -50,7 +50,6 @@ void parser::parse(const bar_settings& bar, string data) {
   m_ul = std::stack<unsigned int>();
   m_ol = std::stack<unsigned int>();
   m_fonts = std::stack<int>();
-  m_reversed = 0u;
 
   if (!m_actions.empty()) {
     throw unclosed_actionblocks(to_string(m_actions.size()) + " unclosed action block(s)");
@@ -84,7 +83,7 @@ void parser::codeblock(string&& data, const bar_settings& bar) {
 
     switch (tag) {
       case 'B': {
-        m_sig.emit(change_background{parse_color(m_bg, value, bar.background)});
+        m_sig.emit(change_background{parse_color(m_bg, value, 0UL)});
         break;
       }
 
@@ -111,13 +110,8 @@ void parser::codeblock(string&& data, const bar_settings& bar) {
         break;
 
       case 'R':
-        if (++m_reversed % 2) {
-          m_sig.emit(change_background{parse_color(m_fg, value, bar.foreground)});
-          m_sig.emit(change_foreground{parse_color(m_bg, value, bar.background)});
-        } else {
-          m_sig.emit(change_foreground{parse_color(m_fg, value, bar.foreground)});
-          m_sig.emit(change_background{parse_color(m_bg, value, bar.background)});
-        }
+        m_sig.emit(change_background{parse_color_string(value, bar.foreground)});
+        m_sig.emit(change_foreground{parse_color_string(value, bar.background)});
         break;
 
       case 'O':