diff --git a/screen.c b/screen.c
index 0756f217..03d120b4 100644
--- a/screen.c
+++ b/screen.c
@@ -572,7 +572,10 @@ screen_select_cell(struct screen *s, struct grid_cell *dst,
 		return;
 
 	memcpy(dst, &s->sel->cell, sizeof *dst);
-
+	if (COLOUR_DEFAULT(dst->fg))
+		dst->fg = src->fg;
+	if (COLOUR_DEFAULT(dst->bg))
+		dst->bg = src->bg;
 	utf8_copy(&dst->data, &src->data);
 	dst->attr = dst->attr & ~GRID_ATTR_CHARSET;
 	dst->attr |= src->attr & GRID_ATTR_CHARSET;