diff --git a/plugins/degesch/fancy-prompt.lua b/plugins/degesch/fancy-prompt.lua
index c0611f3..1c3bb32 100644
--- a/plugins/degesch/fancy-prompt.lua
+++ b/plugins/degesch/fancy-prompt.lua
@@ -34,6 +34,7 @@ local prompt = degesch.hook_prompt (function (hook)
 	local chan = current.channel
 	local s = current.server
 
+	local bg_color = "255"
 	local current_n = 0
 	local active = ""
 	for i, buffer in ipairs (degesch.buffers) do
@@ -41,7 +42,10 @@ local prompt = degesch.hook_prompt (function (hook)
 			current_n = i
 		elseif buffer.new_messages_count ~= buffer.new_unimportant_count then
 			if active ~= "" then active = active .. "," end
-			if buffer.highlighted then active = active .. "!" end
+			if buffer.highlighted then
+				active = active .. "!"
+				bg_color = "224"
+			end
 			active = active .. i
 		end
 	end
@@ -65,8 +69,8 @@ local prompt = degesch.hook_prompt (function (hook)
 	-- Note that this doesn't count with full-width or zero-width characters.
 	local overflow = utf8.offset (x, cols - 1)
 	if overflow then x = x:sub (1, overflow) end
-	x = "\x01\x1b[0;4;1;38;5;16m\x1b[48;5;255m\x02" ..
-		x ..  "\x01\x1b[0;4;1;7;38;5;255m\x02 \x01\x1b[0;1m\x02"
+	x = "\x01\x1b[0;4;1;38;5;16m\x1b[48;5;" .. bg_color .. "m\x02" ..
+		x ..  "\x01\x1b[0;4;1;7;38;5;" .. bg_color .. "m\x02 \x01\x1b[0;1m\x02"
 
 	local user_prefix = function (chan, user)
 		for i, chan_user in ipairs (chan.users) do