diff --git a/mu/mu-config.c b/mu/mu-config.c
index 21848969..5af1ccb7 100644
--- a/mu/mu-config.c
+++ b/mu/mu-config.c
@@ -76,23 +76,14 @@ set_group_mu_defaults (void)
 		g_free(MU_CONFIG.muhome);
 		MU_CONFIG.muhome = exp;
 	}
-}
 
-static gboolean 
-config_options_set_color (const gchar  *option_name, 
-						const gchar  *value, 
-						gpointer data, 
-						GError **error)
-{
-	if( g_strcmp0( value, "never") == 0) 
+	/* check for the MU_NOCOLOR env var; but in any case don't
+	 * use colors unless we're writing to a tty */
+	if (g_getenv (MU_NOCOLOR) != NULL)
+		MU_CONFIG.nocolor = TRUE;
+
+	if (!isatty(fileno(stdout)) || !isatty(fileno(stderr)))
 		MU_CONFIG.nocolor = TRUE;
-	else if( g_strcmp0( value, "auto") == 0)
-		MU_CONFIG.nocolor = (!isatty(fileno(stdout)) || !isatty(fileno(stderr)));
-	else if( g_strcmp0( value, "always") == 0) 
-		MU_CONFIG.nocolor = FALSE;
-	else
-		return FALSE;
-	return TRUE;
 }
 
 static GOptionGroup*
@@ -110,9 +101,8 @@ config_options_group_mu (void)
 		 "specify an alternative mu directory", "<dir>"},
 		{"log-stderr", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &MU_CONFIG.log_stderr,
 		 "log to standard error (false)", NULL},
-		{"color", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_CALLBACK,
-		 (gpointer)&config_options_set_color,
-		 "colorize output (never|auto|always)", "<mode>"},
+		{"nocolor", 0, 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &MU_CONFIG.nocolor,
+		 "don't use ANSI-colors in output (false)", NULL},
 		{"verbose", 'v', 0, G_OPTION_ARG_NONE, &MU_CONFIG.verbose,
 		 "verbose output (false)", NULL},
 
diff --git a/mu/mu-config.h b/mu/mu-config.h
index f14ad73a..a45072a5 100644
--- a/mu/mu-config.h
+++ b/mu/mu-config.h
@@ -102,8 +102,8 @@ struct _MuConfig {
 	gboolean	 version;	/* request mu version */
 	gboolean	 log_stderr;	/* log to stderr (not logfile) */
 	gchar**		 params;	/* parameters (for querying) */
-	gboolean	nocolor; /* don't use use ansi-colors
-						  * in some output */
+	gboolean	 nocolor;        /* don't use use ansi-colors
+					 * in some output */
 	gboolean	 verbose;	/* verbose output */
 
 	/* options for indexing */