diff --git a/source/textbox.c b/source/textbox.c
index d5fe2e52..f6f7d0d9 100644
--- a/source/textbox.c
+++ b/source/textbox.c
@@ -667,10 +667,16 @@ static void parse_color ( Visual *visual, Colormap colormap,
         col.red   = ( ( val & 0x00FF0000 ) >> 16 ) * 255;
         col.green = ( ( val & 0x0000FF00 ) >> 8  ) * 255;
         col.blue  = ( ( val & 0x000000FF )       ) * 255;
-        XftColorAllocValue ( display, visual, colormap, &col, color );
+        if ( !XftColorAllocValue ( display, visual, colormap, &col, color ) ) {
+            fprintf ( stderr, "Failed to parse color: '%s'\n", bg );
+            exit ( EXIT_FAILURE );
+        }
     }
     else {
-        XftColorAllocName ( display, visual, colormap, bg, color );
+        if ( !XftColorAllocName ( display, visual, colormap, bg, color ) ) {
+            fprintf ( stderr, "Failed to parse color: '%s'\n", bg );
+            exit ( EXIT_FAILURE );
+        }
     }
 }
 static void textbox_parse_string ( XVisualInfo *visual, Colormap colormap, const char *str, RowColor *color )
@@ -686,19 +692,19 @@ static void textbox_parse_string ( XVisualInfo *visual, Colormap colormap, const
         switch ( index )
         {
         case 0:
-            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, token, &( color->bg ) );
+            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, g_strstrip ( token ), &( color->bg ) );
             break;
         case 1:
-            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, token, &( color->fg ) );
+            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, g_strstrip ( token ), &( color->fg ) );
             break;
         case 2:
-            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, token, &( color->bgalt ) );
+            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, g_strstrip ( token ), &( color->bgalt ) );
             break;
         case 3:
-            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, token, &( color->hlbg ) );
+            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, g_strstrip ( token ), &( color->hlbg ) );
             break;
         case 4:
-            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, token, &( color->hlfg ) );
+            parse_color ( visual->visual, colormap, g_strstrip ( token ), &( color->hlfg ) );
             break;
         }
         index++;
diff --git a/source/x11-helper.c b/source/x11-helper.c
index 8c158272..dd43f7b7 100644
--- a/source/x11-helper.c
+++ b/source/x11-helper.c
@@ -443,12 +443,22 @@ unsigned int color_get ( Display *display, const char *const name )
         color.blue  = ( ( color.pixel & 0x000000FF )       ) * 255;
         if ( !truecolor ) {
             // This will drop alpha part.
-            return XAllocColor ( display, map, &color ) ? color.pixel : None;
+            Status st = XAllocColor ( display, map, &color );
+            if ( st == None ) {
+                fprintf ( stderr, "Failed to parse color: '%s'\n", name );
+                exit ( EXIT_FAILURE );
+            }
+            return color.pixel;
         }
         return color.pixel;
     }
     else {
-        return XAllocNamedColor ( display, map, name, &color, &color ) ? color.pixel : None;
+        Status st = XAllocNamedColor ( display, map, name, &color, &color );
+        if ( st == None ) {
+            fprintf ( stderr, "Failed to parse color: '%s'\n", name );
+            exit ( EXIT_FAILURE );
+        }
+        return color.pixel;
     }
 }
 
@@ -462,7 +472,7 @@ unsigned int color_background ( Display *display )
 
         gchar        **vals = g_strsplit ( config.color_window, ",", 2 );
         if ( vals != NULL && vals[0] != NULL ) {
-            retv = color_get ( display, vals[0] );
+            retv = color_get ( display, g_strstrip ( vals[0] ) );
         }
         g_strfreev ( vals );
         return retv;