diff --git a/app/lib/components/term.js b/app/lib/components/term.js
index 2d733cf9..ee692932 100644
--- a/app/lib/components/term.js
+++ b/app/lib/components/term.js
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@ import React from 'react';
 import Color from 'color';
 import hterm from '../hterm';
 import Component from '../component';
+import { getColorList } from '../utils/colors'
 
 export default class Term extends Component {
 
@@ -31,7 +32,7 @@ export default class Term extends Component {
     this.term.prefs_.set('enable-clipboard-notice', false);
     this.term.prefs_.set('foreground-color', props.foregroundColor);
     this.term.prefs_.set('background-color', props.backgroundColor);
-    this.term.prefs_.set('color-palette-overrides', props.colors);
+    this.term.prefs_.set('color-palette-overrides', getColorList(props.colors));
     this.term.prefs_.set('user-css', this.getStylesheet(props.customCSS));
     this.term.prefs_.set('scrollbar-visible', false);
     this.term.prefs_.set('receive-encoding', 'raw');
@@ -186,7 +187,7 @@ export default class Term extends Component {
     }
 
     if (this.props.colors !== nextProps.colors) {
-      this.term.prefs_.set('color-palette-overrides', nextProps.colors);
+      this.term.prefs_.set('color-palette-overrides', getColorList(nextProps.colors));
     }
 
     if (this.props.customCSS !== nextProps.customCSS) {
diff --git a/app/lib/reducers/ui.js b/app/lib/reducers/ui.js
index 770f874a..c93900e9 100644
--- a/app/lib/reducers/ui.js
+++ b/app/lib/reducers/ui.js
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@ import {
   SESSION_SET_CWD
 } from '../constants/sessions';
 import { UPDATE_AVAILABLE } from '../constants/updater';
+import { values } from '../utils/object';
 
 // TODO: populate `config-default.js` from this :)
 const initial = Immutable({
@@ -33,24 +34,24 @@ const initial = Immutable({
   termCSS: '',
   openAt: {},
   resizeAt: 0,
-  colors: [
-    '#000000',
-    '#ff0000',
-    '#33ff00',
-    '#ffff00',
-    '#0066ff',
-    '#cc00ff',
-    '#00ffff',
-    '#d0d0d0',
-    '#808080',
-    '#ff0000',
-    '#33ff00',
-    '#ffff00',
-    '#0066ff',
-    '#cc00ff',
-    '#00ffff',
-    '#ffffff'
-  ],
+  colors: {
+    black: '#000000',
+    red: '#ff0000',
+    green: '#33ff00',
+    yellow: '#ffff00',
+    blue: '#0066ff',
+    magenta: '#cc00ff',
+    cyan: '#00ffff',
+    white: '#d0d0d0',
+    lightBlack: '#808080',
+    lightRed: '#ff0000',
+    lightGreen: '#33ff00',
+    lightYellow: '#ffff00',
+    lightBlue: '#0066ff',
+    lightMagenta: '#cc00ff',
+    lightCyan: '#00ffff',
+    lightWhite: '#ffffff'
+  },
   activityMarkers: {},
   notifications: {
     font: false,
@@ -117,8 +118,18 @@ const reducer = (state = initial, action) => {
         }
 
         if (null != config.colors) {
-          if (state.colors.toString() !== config.colors.toString()) {
-            ret.colors = config.colors;
+          if (Array.isArray(config.colors)) {
+            const stateColors = Array.isArray(state.colors)
+              ? state.colors
+              : values(state.colors);
+
+            if (stateColors.toString() !== config.colors.toString()) {
+              ret.colors = config.colors;
+            }
+          } else {
+            if (JSON.stringify(state.colors) !== JSON.stringify(config.colors) {
+              ret.colors = config.colors;
+            }
           }
         }
 
diff --git a/app/lib/utils/colors.js b/app/lib/utils/colors.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..54b0df0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/app/lib/utils/colors.js
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+const colorList = [
+  'black',
+  'red',
+  'green',
+  'yellow',
+  'blue',
+  'magenta',
+  'cyan',
+  'white',
+  'lightBlack',
+  'lightRed',
+  'lightGreen',
+  'lightYellow',
+  'lightBlue',
+  'lightMagenta',
+  'lightCyan',
+  'lightWhite',
+  'colorCubes',
+  'grayscale'
+]
+
+export function getColorList (colors) {
+  // For backwards compatibility, return early if it's already an array
+  if (Array.isArray(colors)) {
+    return colors;
+  }
+
+  return colorList.map((colorName) => {
+    return colors[colorName]
+  })
+}
diff --git a/config-default.js b/config-default.js
index 72bec07d..2c59ff8a 100644
--- a/config-default.js
+++ b/config-default.js
@@ -27,26 +27,27 @@ module.exports = {
     // custom padding (css format, i.e.: `top right bottom left`)
     padding: '12px 14px',
 
-    // some color overrides. see http://bit.ly/29k1iU2 for
-    // the full list
-    colors: [
-      '#000000',
-      '#ff0000',
-      '#33ff00',
-      '#ffff00',
-      '#0066ff',
-      '#cc00ff',
-      '#00ffff',
-      '#d0d0d0',
-      '#808080',
-      '#ff0000',
-      '#33ff00',
-      '#ffff00',
-      '#0066ff',
-      '#cc00ff',
-      '#00ffff',
-      '#ffffff'
-    ],
+    // the full list. if you're going to provide the full color palette,
+    // including the 6 x 6 color cubes and the grayscale map, just provide
+    // an array here instead of a color map object
+    colors: {
+      black: '#000000',
+      red: '#ff0000',
+      green: '#33ff00',
+      yellow: '#ffff00',
+      blue: '#0066ff',
+      magenta: '#cc00ff',
+      cyan: '#00ffff',
+      white: '#d0d0d0',
+      lightBlack: '#808080',
+      lightRed: '#ff0000',
+      lightGreen: '#33ff00',
+      lightYellow: '#ffff00',
+      lightBlue: '#0066ff',
+      lightMagenta: '#cc00ff',
+      lightCyan: '#00ffff',
+      lightWhite: '#ffffff'
+    },
 
     // the shell to run when spawning a new session (i.e. /usr/local/bin/fish)
     // if left empty, your system's login shell will be used by default