diff --git a/src/driver/fontrenderer.cpp b/src/driver/fontrenderer.cpp
index 163c8aaa0..44de21344 100644
--- a/src/driver/fontrenderer.cpp
+++ b/src/driver/fontrenderer.cpp
@@ -436,7 +436,10 @@ void Font::RenderString(int x, int y, const int width, const char *text, const u
 	fb_pixel_t bgcolor = *(frameBuffer->getFrameBufferPointer() + x +
 			       y * frameBuffer->getStride() / sizeof(fb_pixel_t));
 	// fb_pixel_t bgcolor = frameBuffer->realcolor[color];
-	fb_pixel_t fgcolor = frameBuffer->realcolor[(((((int)color) + 2) | 7) - 2)];
+	uint8_t fgindex = color;		/* index of font color in the palette */
+	if (color > COL_BLACK0 && color < 254)	/* bigger than 254 would result in  > 255 */
+		fgindex = ((((int)color) + 2) | 7) - 2; /* no idea what this does exactly... */
+	fb_pixel_t fgcolor = frameBuffer->realcolor[fgindex];
 
 	if((oldbgcolor != bgcolor) || (oldfgcolor != fgcolor)) {