diff --git a/awesomerc.5.txt b/awesomerc.5.txt
index d448f81c..c4efa93c 100644
--- a/awesomerc.5.txt
+++ b/awesomerc.5.txt
@@ -45,7 +45,6 @@ http://library.gnome.org/devel/pango/stable/PangoMarkupFormat.html.
 List of *awesome* markup elements and their attributes:
 
 * bg
-  - color: background color
   - image: path to a background image
   - align: background image alignment
   - resize: resize background image to text size
diff --git a/draw.c b/draw.c
index e9469006..f0600f23 100644
--- a/draw.c
+++ b/draw.c
@@ -158,9 +158,6 @@ draw_markup_on_element(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
 {
     draw_parser_data_t *data = p->priv;
 
-    xcolor_init_request_t reqs[3];
-    int8_t i, bg_color_nbr = -1, reqs_nbr = -1;
-
     /* hack: markup.c validates tags so we can avoid strcmps here */
     switch (*elem) {
       case 'b':
@@ -180,13 +177,6 @@ draw_markup_on_element(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
             for(; *names; names++, values++)
                 switch(a_tokenize(*names, -1))
                 {
-                  case A_TK_COLOR:
-                    reqs[++reqs_nbr] = xcolor_init_unchecked(&data->bg_color,
-                                                             *values,
-                                                             a_strlen(*values));
-
-                    bg_color_nbr = reqs_nbr;
-                    break;
                   case A_TK_IMAGE:
                     if(data->bg_image)
                         image_delete(&data->bg_image);
@@ -202,12 +192,6 @@ draw_markup_on_element(markup_parser_data_t *p, const char *elem,
                 }
         break;
     }
-
-    for(i = 0; i <= reqs_nbr; i++)
-        if(i == bg_color_nbr)
-            data->has_bg_color = xcolor_init_reply(reqs[i]);
-        else
-            xcolor_init_reply(reqs[i]);
 }
 
 static bool
@@ -311,9 +295,6 @@ draw_text(draw_context_t *ctx, font_t *font, PangoEllipsizeMode ellip, PangoWrap
         len = pdata->len;
     }
 
-    if(pdata->has_bg_color)
-        draw_rectangle(ctx, area, 1.0, true, &pdata->bg_color);
-
     if(pdata->bg_image)
     {
         x = area.x;
diff --git a/draw.h b/draw.h
index 967b3c22..8cad5023 100644
--- a/draw.h
+++ b/draw.h
@@ -165,8 +165,6 @@ typedef struct
     {
         int top, left;
     } bg_margin;
-    bool has_bg_color;
-    xcolor_t bg_color;
     image_t *bg_image;
     alignment_t bg_align;
     bool bg_resize;
diff --git a/lib/awful/widget.lua.in b/lib/awful/widget.lua.in
index a9006e23..8d82e847 100644
--- a/lib/awful/widget.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/widget.lua.in
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ local function taglist_update (screen, w, label, buttons, data)
     end
     -- Update widgets text
     for k, tag in ipairs(tags) do
-        w[k].text = label(tag)
+        w[k].text, w[k].bg = label(tag)
         if buttons then
             if not data[tag] then
                 -- Replace press function by a new one calling with tags as
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ end
 -- squares_sel Optional: a user provided image for selected squares.
 -- squares_unsel Optional: a user provided image for unselected squares.
 -- squares_resize Optional: true or false to resize squares.
--- @return A string to print.
+-- @return A string to print and a background color.
 function taglist.label.all(t, args)
     if not args then args = {} end
     local theme = beautiful.get()
@@ -150,13 +150,13 @@ function taglist.label.all(t, args)
             end
         end
     end
-    if bg_color and fg_color then
-        text = text .. "<bg "..background.." color='"..bg_color.."'/> <span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_color).."'>"..util.escape(t.name).."</span> "
+    if fg_color then
+        text = text .. "<bg "..background.." /> <span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_color).."'>"..util.escape(t.name).."</span> "
     else
         text = text .. " <bg "..background.." />"..util.escape(t.name).." "
     end
     text = text .. "</span>"
-    return text
+    return text, bg_color
 end
 
 --- Return labels for a taglist widget with all *non empty* tags from screen.
@@ -220,7 +220,8 @@ local function tasklist_update(w, buttons, label, data)
             w[k]:buttons(data[c])
             w[k + 1]:buttons(data[c])
         end
-        w[k + 1].text, w[k].bg = label(clients[(k + 1) / 2])
+        w[k + 1].text, w[k + 1].bg = label(clients[(k + 1) / 2])
+        w[k].bg = w[k + 1].bg
         if w[k + 1].text  then
             -- Set icon
             w[k].image = clients[(k + 1) / 2].icon
@@ -288,15 +289,15 @@ local function widget_tasklist_label_common(c, args)
         name = util.escape(c.name) or ""
     end
     if capi.client.focus == c then
-        if bg_focus and fg_focus then
-            bg = bg_focus
-            text = text .. "<bg color='"..bg_focus.."'/><span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_focus).."'>"..name.."</span>"
+        bg = bg_focus
+        if fg_focus then
+            text = text .. "<span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_focus).."'>"..name.."</span>"
         else
             text = text .. name
         end
-    elseif c.urgent and bg_urgent and fg_urgent then
+    elseif c.urgent and fg_urgent then
         bg = bg_urgent
-        text = text .. "<bg color='"..bg_urgent.."'/><span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_urgent).."'>"..name.."</span>"
+        text = text .. "<span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_urgent).."'>"..name.."</span>"
     else
         text = text .. name
     end
@@ -315,7 +316,7 @@ end
 -- fg_focus The foreground color for focused client.
 -- bg_urgent The background color for urgent clients.
 -- fg_urgent The foreground color for urgent clients.
--- @return A string to print.
+-- @return A string to print and a background color.
 function tasklist.label.allscreen(c, screen, args)
     return widget_tasklist_label_common(c, args)
 end
@@ -331,7 +332,7 @@ end
 -- fg_focus The foreground color for focused client.
 -- bg_urgent The background color for urgent clients.
 -- fg_urgent The foreground color for urgent clients.
--- @return A string to print.
+-- @return A string to print and a background color.
 function tasklist.label.alltags(c, screen, args)
     -- Only print client on the same screen as this widget
     if c.screen ~= screen then return end
@@ -349,7 +350,7 @@ end
 -- fg_focus The foreground color for focused client.
 -- bg_urgent The background color for urgent clients.
 -- fg_urgent The foreground color for urgent clients.
--- @return A string to print.
+-- @return A string to print and a background color.
 function tasklist.label.currenttags(c, screen, args)
     -- Only print client on the same screen as this widget
     if c.screen ~= screen then return end
diff --git a/widgets/textbox.c b/widgets/textbox.c
index 5f8c9249..f5483a31 100644
--- a/widgets/textbox.c
+++ b/widgets/textbox.c
@@ -49,6 +49,8 @@ typedef struct
     alignment_t align;
     /** Margin */
     padding_t margin;
+    /** Background color */
+    xcolor_t bg;
 } textbox_data_t;
 
 static area_t
@@ -87,6 +89,9 @@ textbox_draw(widget_t *widget, draw_context_t *ctx, area_t geometry,
 {
     textbox_data_t *d = widget->data;
 
+    if(d->bg.initialized)
+        draw_rectangle(ctx, geometry, 1.0, true, &d->bg);
+
     if(d->border.width > 0)
         draw_rectangle(ctx, geometry, d->border.width, false, &d->border.color);
 
@@ -134,6 +139,7 @@ luaA_textbox_margin(lua_State *L)
  * \lfield border_color The border color.
  * \lfield align Text alignment, left, center or right.
  * \lfield margin Method to pass text margin: a table with top, left, right and bottom keys.
+ * \lfield bg Background color.
  */
 static int
 luaA_textbox_index(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
@@ -143,6 +149,8 @@ luaA_textbox_index(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
 
     switch(token)
     {
+      case A_TK_BG:
+        return luaA_pushcolor(L, &d->bg);
       case A_TK_MARGIN:
         lua_pushcfunction(L, luaA_textbox_margin);
         return 1;
@@ -209,6 +217,12 @@ luaA_textbox_newindex(lua_State *L, awesome_token_t token)
 
     switch(token)
     {
+      case A_TK_BG:
+        if(lua_isnil(L, 3))
+            p_clear(&d->bg, 1);
+        else if((buf = luaL_checklstring(L, 3, &len)))
+            xcolor_init_reply(xcolor_init_unchecked(&d->bg, buf, len));
+        break;
       case A_TK_ALIGN:
         if((buf = luaL_checklstring(L, 3, &len)))
             d->align = draw_align_fromstr(buf, len);