diff --git a/calculon/config/default.cfg b/calculon/config/default.cfg
index 3631cb2..37ab0e4 100644
--- a/calculon/config/default.cfg
+++ b/calculon/config/default.cfg
@@ -24,35 +24,35 @@
         },
         "binlabel": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
-            "colours":  ["red", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["red", "none"]
         },
         "vallabel": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
-            "colours":  ["red", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["red", "none"]
         },
         "bval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["green", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["green", "none"]
         },
         "hval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["white", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["white", "none"]
         },
         "dval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["magenta", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["magenta", "none"]
         },
         "oval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["magenta", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["magenta", "none"]
         },
         "aval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["cyan", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["cyan", "none"]
         },
         "uval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["cyan", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["cyan", "none"]
         },
         "err": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
diff --git a/calculon/config/example.cfg b/calculon/config/example.cfg
index f676cc8..bc431cd 100644
--- a/calculon/config/example.cfg
+++ b/calculon/config/example.cfg
@@ -50,35 +50,35 @@
         },
         "binlabel": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
-            "colours":  ["red", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["red", "none"]
         },
         "vallabel": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
-            "colours":  ["red", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["red", "none"]
         },
         "bval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["green", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["green", "none"]
         },
         "hval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["white", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["white", "none"]
         },
         "dval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["magenta", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["magenta", "none"]
         },
         "oval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["magenta", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["magenta", "none"]
         },
         "aval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["cyan", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["cyan", "none"]
         },
         "uval": {
             "attrs":    [],
-            "colours":  ["cyan", "black"]
+            "colours":  ["cyan", "none"]
         },
         "err": {
             "attrs":    ["bold"],
diff --git a/calculon/display.py b/calculon/display.py
index a24e178..f6a664e 100644
--- a/calculon/display.py
+++ b/calculon/display.py
@@ -36,7 +36,8 @@
     "magenta" : curses.COLOR_MAGENTA,
     "red" : curses.COLOR_RED,
     "white" : curses.COLOR_WHITE,
-    "yellow" : curses.COLOR_YELLOW
+    "yellow" : curses.COLOR_YELLOW,
+    "none" : -1
 }
 
 VALID_FORMATS = ['h','d','o','a','u','b']
@@ -71,7 +72,7 @@ def init_config(self, config):
         # update curses text attributes
         colour_pairs = {}
         # Fixme - pull this from curses module (max number of colour pairs)
-        last_colour_pair = curses.COLOR_PAIRS
+        last_colour_pair = min(curses.COLOR_PAIRS, 64)
         for sec in config['attrs']:
             attrs = 0
             for attr in config['attrs'][sec]['attrs']: