diff --git a/lib/pry/command_context.rb b/lib/pry/command_context.rb
index 4f7d465f..459d6e21 100644
--- a/lib/pry/command_context.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/command_context.rb
@@ -25,5 +25,6 @@ class Pry
 
     include Pry::Helpers::BaseHelpers
     include Pry::Helpers::CommandHelpers
+    include Pry::Helpers::Color
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/pry/default_commands/input.rb b/lib/pry/default_commands/input.rb
index c891ecaf..793afe4d 100644
--- a/lib/pry/default_commands/input.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/default_commands/input.rb
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class Pry
 
             history.each_with_index do |element, index|
               if element =~ pattern
-                output.puts "#{colorize index}: #{element}"
+                output.puts "#{blue index}: #{element}"
               end
             end
           end
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers.rb
index 30681922..bfd8b131 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers.rb
@@ -1,2 +1,3 @@
 require "pry/helpers/base_helpers"
 require "pry/helpers/command_helpers"
+require "pry/helpers/color"
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/base_helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/base_helpers.rb
index 5ce9b0c7..f2627355 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers/base_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/base_helpers.rb
@@ -18,14 +18,7 @@ class Pry
         text.split.drop(1).join(' ')
       end
 
-      # turn off color for duration of block
-      def no_color(&block)
-        old_color_state = Pry.color
-        Pry.color = false
-        yield
-      ensure
-        Pry.color = old_color_state
-      end
+
 
       def gem_installed?(gem_name)
         require 'rubygems'
@@ -67,53 +60,6 @@ class Pry
         end
       end
 
-      #
-      # Color helpers:
-      #   gray, red, green, yellow, blue, purple, cyan, white,
-      #   and bright_red, bright_green, etc...
-      #
-      # ANSI color codes:
-      #   \033 => escape
-      #     30 => color base
-      #      1 => bright
-      #      0 => normal
-      #
-
-      COLORS = {
-        "black" => 0,
-        "red" => 1,
-        "green" => 2,
-        "yellow" => 3,
-        "blue" => 4,
-        "purple" => 5,
-        "magenta" => 5,
-        "cyan" => 6,
-        "white" => 7
-      }
-
-      COLORS.each do |color, i|
-        define_method color do |str|
-          Pry.color ? "\033[0;#{30+i}m#{str}\033[0m" : str
-        end
-
-        define_method "bright_#{color}" do |str|
-          Pry.color ? "\033[1;#{30+i}m#{str}\033[0m" : str
-        end
-      end
-
-      alias_method :grey, :bright_black
-      alias_method :gray, :bright_black
-
-      require 'set'
-      VALID_COLORS = Set.new(
-                             COLORS.keys +
-                             COLORS.keys.map{|k| "bright_#{k}" } +
-                             ["grey", "gray"]
-                             )
-
-      def bold(text)
-        Pry.color ? "\e[1m#{text}\e[0m" : text
-      end
 
       #
       # Colorize a string that has "color tags".
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/color.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/color.rb
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..bd50a259
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/color.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+class Pry
+  module Helpers
+
+    module Color
+ 
+      extend self
+
+      COLORS = 
+      {
+        "black"   => 0,
+        "red"     => 1,
+        "green"   => 2,
+        "yellow"  => 3,
+        "blue"    => 4,
+        "purple"  => 5,
+        "magenta" => 5,
+        "cyan"    => 6,
+        "white"   => 7
+      }
+
+      COLORS.each_pair do |color, value|
+        define_method color do |text|
+          Pry.color ? "\033[0;#{30+value}m#{text}\033[0m" : text.to_s
+        end
+
+        define_method "bright_#{color}" do |text|
+          Pry.color ? "\033[1;#{30+value}m#{text}\033[0m" : text.to_s
+        end
+      end
+
+      def strip_color text
+        text.gsub /\e\[.*?(\d)+m/, ''
+      end
+
+      def bold text
+        Pry.color ? "\e[1m#{text}\e[0m" : text.to_s
+      end
+
+      def no_color &block
+        boolean = Pry.color
+        Pry.color = false
+        yield
+      ensure
+        Pry.color = boolean
+      end
+
+    end
+
+  end
+end
+
diff --git a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
index d44610bb..28650458 100644
--- a/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
+++ b/lib/pry/helpers/command_helpers.rb
@@ -23,15 +23,11 @@ class Pry
         end
       end
 
-      def colorize text
-        Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan(text.to_s, :ruby).term : text
-      end
-
       def add_line_numbers(lines, start_line)
         line_array = lines.each_line.to_a
         line_array.each_with_index.map do |line, idx|
           adjusted_index = idx + start_line
-          "#{colorize adjusted_index}: #{line}"
+          "#{blue adjusted_index}: #{line}"
         end.join
       end
 
@@ -231,11 +227,6 @@ class Pry
          normalized_line_number(end_line, lines_array.size)]
       end
 
-      # documentation related helpers
-      def strip_color_codes(str)
-        str.gsub(/\e\[.*?(\d)+m/, '')
-      end
-
       def process_rdoc(comment, code_type)
         comment = comment.dup
         comment.gsub(/<code>(?:\s*\n)?(.*?)\s*<\/code>/m) { Pry.color ? CodeRay.scan($1, code_type).term : $1 }.