diff --git a/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua.in b/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua.in
index fb6abe076..f317e861c 100644
--- a/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua.in
+++ b/lib/awful/widget/taglist.lua.in
@@ -52,10 +52,6 @@ function taglist.taglist_label(t, args)
     local bg_resize = false
     local is_selected = false
     local cls = t:clients()
-    if t.selected then
-        bg_color = bg_focus
-        fg_color = fg_focus
-    end
     if sel then
         if taglist_squares_sel then
             -- Check that the selected clients is tagged with 't'.
@@ -97,6 +93,10 @@ function taglist.taglist_label(t, args)
             end
         end
     end
+    if t.selected then
+        bg_color = bg_focus
+        fg_color = fg_focus
+    end
     if not tag.getproperty(t, "icon_only") then
         if fg_color then
             text = text .. "<span color='"..util.color_strip_alpha(fg_color).."'>" ..