diff --git a/builtin/branch.c b/builtin/branch.c
index b2e1895ca..0a8ed9d22 100644
--- a/builtin/branch.c
+++ b/builtin/branch.c
@@ -93,8 +93,7 @@ static int git_branch_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 			return 0;
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
-		color_parse(value, var, branch_colors[slot]);
-		return 0;
+		return color_parse(value, branch_colors[slot]);
 	}
 	return git_color_default_config(var, value, cb);
 }
diff --git a/builtin/clean.c b/builtin/clean.c
index 1032563e5..035ea391a 100644
--- a/builtin/clean.c
+++ b/builtin/clean.c
@@ -116,8 +116,7 @@ static int git_clean_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 			return 0;
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
-		color_parse(value, var, clean_colors[slot]);
-		return 0;
+		return color_parse(value, clean_colors[slot]);
 	}
 
 	if (!strcmp(var, "clean.requireforce")) {
diff --git a/builtin/commit.c b/builtin/commit.c
index 5a8a29e07..8dab44d93 100644
--- a/builtin/commit.c
+++ b/builtin/commit.c
@@ -1295,8 +1295,7 @@ static int git_status_config(const char *k, const char *v, void *cb)
 			return 0;
 		if (!v)
 			return config_error_nonbool(k);
-		color_parse(v, k, s->color_palette[slot]);
-		return 0;
+		return color_parse(v, s->color_palette[slot]);
 	}
 	if (!strcmp(k, "status.relativepaths")) {
 		s->relative_paths = git_config_bool(k, v);
diff --git a/builtin/config.c b/builtin/config.c
index 7bba51638..842809b0b 100644
--- a/builtin/config.c
+++ b/builtin/config.c
@@ -296,7 +296,8 @@ static int git_get_color_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	if (!strcmp(var, get_color_slot)) {
 		if (!value)
 			config_error_nonbool(var);
-		color_parse(value, var, parsed_color);
+		if (color_parse(value, parsed_color) < 0)
+			return -1;
 		get_color_found = 1;
 	}
 	return 0;
@@ -309,8 +310,10 @@ static void get_color(const char *def_color)
 	git_config_with_options(git_get_color_config, NULL,
 				&given_config_source, respect_includes);
 
-	if (!get_color_found && def_color)
-		color_parse(def_color, "command line", parsed_color);
+	if (!get_color_found && def_color) {
+		if (color_parse(def_color, parsed_color) < 0)
+			die(_("unable to parse default color value"));
+	}
 
 	fputs(parsed_color, stdout);
 }
diff --git a/builtin/for-each-ref.c b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
index 47bd62469..d41920d38 100644
--- a/builtin/for-each-ref.c
+++ b/builtin/for-each-ref.c
@@ -673,7 +673,8 @@ static void populate_value(struct refinfo *ref)
 		} else if (starts_with(name, "color:")) {
 			char color[COLOR_MAXLEN] = "";
 
-			color_parse(name + 6, "--format", color);
+			if (color_parse(name + 6, color) < 0)
+				die(_("unable to parse format"));
 			v->s = xstrdup(color);
 			continue;
 		} else if (!strcmp(name, "flag")) {
@@ -1007,7 +1008,8 @@ static void show_ref(struct refinfo *info, const char *format, int quote_style)
 		struct atom_value resetv;
 		char color[COLOR_MAXLEN] = "";
 
-		color_parse("reset", "--format", color);
+		if (color_parse("reset", color) < 0)
+			die("BUG: couldn't parse 'reset' as a color");
 		resetv.s = color;
 		print_value(&resetv, quote_style);
 	}
diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index f672885b7..7941e932d 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -60,13 +60,12 @@ static int parse_attr(const char *name, int len)
 	return -1;
 }
 
-void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst)
+int color_parse(const char *value, char *dst)
 {
-	color_parse_mem(value, strlen(value), var, dst);
+	return color_parse_mem(value, strlen(value), dst);
 }
 
-void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int value_len, const char *var,
-		char *dst)
+int color_parse_mem(const char *value, int value_len, char *dst)
 {
 	const char *ptr = value;
 	int len = value_len;
@@ -76,7 +75,7 @@ void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int value_len, const char *var,
 
 	if (!strncasecmp(value, "reset", len)) {
 		strcpy(dst, GIT_COLOR_RESET);
-		return;
+		return 0;
 	}
 
 	/* [fg [bg]] [attr]... */
@@ -153,9 +152,9 @@ void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int value_len, const char *var,
 		*dst++ = 'm';
 	}
 	*dst = 0;
-	return;
+	return 0;
 bad:
-	die("bad color value '%.*s' for variable '%s'", value_len, value, var);
+	return error(_("invalid color value: %.*s"), value_len, value);
 }
 
 int git_config_colorbool(const char *var, const char *value)
diff --git a/color.h b/color.h
index 9a8495bb7..f5beab1ed 100644
--- a/color.h
+++ b/color.h
@@ -77,8 +77,8 @@ int git_color_default_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb);
 
 int git_config_colorbool(const char *var, const char *value);
 int want_color(int var);
-void color_parse(const char *value, const char *var, char *dst);
-void color_parse_mem(const char *value, int len, const char *var, char *dst);
+int color_parse(const char *value, char *dst);
+int color_parse_mem(const char *value, int len, char *dst);
 __attribute__((format (printf, 3, 4)))
 int color_fprintf(FILE *fp, const char *color, const char *fmt, ...);
 __attribute__((format (printf, 3, 4)))
diff --git a/diff.c b/diff.c
index 867f034b8..4493dde74 100644
--- a/diff.c
+++ b/diff.c
@@ -248,8 +248,7 @@ int git_diff_basic_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 			return 0;
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
-		color_parse(value, var, diff_colors[slot]);
-		return 0;
+		return color_parse(value, diff_colors[slot]);
 	}
 
 	/* like GNU diff's --suppress-blank-empty option  */
diff --git a/grep.c b/grep.c
index 99217dc04..4dc31ea38 100644
--- a/grep.c
+++ b/grep.c
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ int grep_config(const char *var, const char *value, void *cb)
 	if (color) {
 		if (!value)
 			return config_error_nonbool(var);
-		color_parse(value, var, color);
+		return color_parse(value, color);
 	}
 	return 0;
 }
diff --git a/log-tree.c b/log-tree.c
index 479b1d2a5..a21ef30d0 100644
--- a/log-tree.c
+++ b/log-tree.c
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ int parse_decorate_color_config(const char *var, const char *slot_name, const ch
 		return 0;
 	if (!value)
 		return config_error_nonbool(var);
-	color_parse(value, var, decoration_colors[slot]);
-	return 0;
+	return color_parse(value, decoration_colors[slot]);
 }
 
 /*
diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 31fc76b2f..6182ca9ae 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -979,9 +979,8 @@ static size_t parse_color(struct strbuf *sb, /* in UTF-8 */
 				return end - placeholder + 1;
 			begin += 5;
 		}
-		color_parse_mem(begin,
-				end - begin,
-				"--pretty format", color);
+		if (color_parse_mem(begin, end - begin, color) < 0)
+			die(_("unable to parse --pretty format"));
 		strbuf_addstr(sb, color);
 		return end - placeholder + 1;
 	}