diff --git a/examples/gallery/demos/bokeh/boxplot_chart.ipynb b/examples/gallery/demos/bokeh/boxplot_chart.ipynb
index c89dc74e7e..d2cbfe4b50 100644
--- a/examples/gallery/demos/bokeh/boxplot_chart.ipynb
+++ b/examples/gallery/demos/bokeh/boxplot_chart.ipynb
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@
     "from bokeh.sampledata.autompg import autompg as df\n",
     "\n",
     "title = \"MPG by Cylinders and Data Source, Colored by Cylinders\"\n",
-    "boxwhisker = hv.BoxWhisker(df, ['cyl', 'origin'], 'mpg', label=title)"
+    "boxwhisker = hv.BoxWhisker(df, ['cyl', 'origin'], 'mpg', label=title).options(color_index=0)"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/examples/gallery/demos/matplotlib/boxplot_chart.ipynb b/examples/gallery/demos/matplotlib/boxplot_chart.ipynb
index cbdf222ffe..c66f14f5f8 100644
--- a/examples/gallery/demos/matplotlib/boxplot_chart.ipynb
+++ b/examples/gallery/demos/matplotlib/boxplot_chart.ipynb
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@
     "from bokeh.sampledata.autompg import autompg as df\n",
     "\n",
     "title = \"MPG by Cylinders and Data Source, Colored by Cylinders\"\n",
-    "boxwhisker = hv.BoxWhisker(df, ['cyl', 'origin'], 'mpg', label=title)"
+    "boxwhisker = hv.BoxWhisker(df, ['cyl', 'origin'], 'mpg', label=title).options(color_index=0)"
    ]
   },
   {
diff --git a/holoviews/plotting/bokeh/__init__.py b/holoviews/plotting/bokeh/__init__.py
index d01139f8ea..d9b5c348bd 100644
--- a/holoviews/plotting/bokeh/__init__.py
+++ b/holoviews/plotting/bokeh/__init__.py
@@ -160,7 +160,7 @@ def colormap_generator(palette):
 
 # Charts
 options.Curve = Options('style', color=Cycle(), line_width=2)
-options.BoxWhisker = Options('style', box_fill_color=Cycle(), whisker_color='black',
+options.BoxWhisker = Options('style', box_fill_color='lightgray', whisker_color='black',
                              box_line_color='black', outlier_color='black')
 options.Scatter = Options('style', color=Cycle(), size=point_size, cmap=dflt_cmap)
 options.Points = Options('style', color=Cycle(), size=point_size, cmap=dflt_cmap)