diff --git a/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.cpp b/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.cpp
index c5a3ee59013..a87093f66dc 100644
--- a/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.cpp
+++ b/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.cpp
@@ -186,13 +186,13 @@ std::vector<TexFile> C3DOTextureHandler::LoadTexFiles()
 
 	std::vector<TexFile> texFiles;
 
-	const std::vector<std::string>& filesBMP = CFileHandler::FindFiles("unittextures/tatex/", "*.bmp");
-	      std::vector<std::string>  files    = CFileHandler::FindFiles("unittextures/tatex/", "*.tga");
+	const std::vector<std::string>& bmpFiles = CFileHandler::FindFiles("unittextures/tatex/", "*.bmp");
+	      std::vector<std::string>  tgaFiles = CFileHandler::FindFiles("unittextures/tatex/", "*.tga");
 
-	files.insert(files.end(), filesBMP.begin(), filesBMP.end());
-	texFiles.reserve(files.size() + CTAPalette::NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES);
+	tgaFiles.insert(tgaFiles.end(), bmpFiles.begin(), bmpFiles.end());
+	texFiles.reserve(tgaFiles.size() + CTAPalette::NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES);
 
-	for (const std::string& s: files) {
+	for (const std::string& s: tgaFiles) {
 		const std::string s2 = StringToLower(FileSystem::GetBasename(s));
 
 		// avoid duplicate names and give tga images priority
@@ -208,8 +208,7 @@ std::vector<TexFile> C3DOTextureHandler::LoadTexFiles()
 		}
 	}
 
-	if (paletteFile.FileExists())
-		palette.Init(paletteFile);
+	palette.Init(paletteFile);
 
 	for (unsigned a = 0; a < CTAPalette::NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES; ++a) {
 		TexFile texFile;
diff --git a/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.h b/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.h
index 2f8e5dc72bb..004b3323b98 100644
--- a/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.h
+++ b/rts/Rendering/Textures/3DOTextureHandler.h
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 
 #include "Rendering/GL/myGL.h"
+#include "Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.h"
 #include "System/float4.h"
 #include "System/UnorderedMap.hpp"
 
@@ -38,6 +39,8 @@ class C3DOTextureHandler
 private:
 	spring::unordered_map<std::string, UnitTexture> textures;
 
+	CTAPalette palette;
+
 	GLuint atlas3do1 = 0;
 	GLuint atlas3do2 = 0;
 	int bigTexX = 0;
diff --git a/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.cpp b/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.cpp
index 73197c1b9a7..eb71b5868cf 100644
--- a/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.cpp
+++ b/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.cpp
@@ -1,27 +1,17 @@
 /* This file is part of the Spring engine (GPL v2 or later), see LICENSE.html */
 
-
 #include "TAPalette.h"
 #include "System/FileSystem/FileHandler.h"
 
-CTAPalette palette;
-
-CTAPalette::CTAPalette()
-{
-	for (auto& color: p) {
-		color[0] = 0;
-		color[1] = 0;
-		color[2] = 0;
-		color[3] = 255;
-	}
-}
-
 void CTAPalette::Init(CFileHandler& paletteFile)
 {
-	for (auto& color: p) {
-		for (auto& channel: color) {
-			paletteFile.Read(&color, 1);
-		}
-		color[3] = 255;
+	if (!paletteFile.FileExists())
+		return;
+
+	for (SColor& color: colors) {
+		paletteFile.Read(&color.i, 4);
+		// ignore alpha
+		color.a = 255;
 	}
 }
+
diff --git a/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.h b/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.h
index d3b8c86cb71..6f4c5e86f18 100644
--- a/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.h
+++ b/rts/Rendering/Textures/TAPalette.h
@@ -3,21 +3,29 @@
 #ifndef TA_PALETTE_H
 #define TA_PALETTE_H
 
+#include <cstdint>
+#include "System/Color.h"
+
 class CFileHandler;
 class CTAPalette {
 public:
-	enum { NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES = 256 };
+	CTAPalette() {
+		for (SColor& color: colors) {
+			color.r = 0;
+			color.g = 0;
+			color.b = 0;
+		}
+	}
 
-	CTAPalette();
+	void Init(CFileHandler&);
 
-	inline const unsigned char* operator[] (int a) const { return p[a]; }
+	const uint8_t* operator[] (unsigned int a) const { return colors[a]; }
 
-	void Init(CFileHandler&);
+public:
+	static constexpr unsigned int NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES = 256;
 
 private:
-	unsigned char p[NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES][4];
+	SColor colors[NUM_PALETTE_ENTRIES];
 };
 
-extern CTAPalette palette;
-
 #endif /* TA_PALETTE_H */