diff --git a/css/css.h b/css/css.h
index 6750c0a18..6767ade64 100644
--- a/css/css.h
+++ b/css/css.h
@@ -663,6 +663,8 @@ void css_merge(struct css_style * const style,
 void css_parse_property_list(struct content *c, struct css_style * style,
 		char * str);
 colour named_colour(const char *name);
+colour hex_colour(const char *text, int length);
+
 void css_dump_style(const struct css_style * const style);
 void css_dump_stylesheet(const struct css_stylesheet * stylesheet);
 
diff --git a/css/ruleset.c b/css/ruleset.c
index 5295558c6..4cf33d2d8 100644
--- a/css/ruleset.c
+++ b/css/ruleset.c
@@ -183,6 +183,29 @@ static css_text_decoration css_text_decoration_parse(const char * const s,
 		int length);
 
 
+/** Invalid hex */
+#define IH 0xffffffff
+/** ASCII to hexadeximal conversion */
+static const unsigned int ascii_to_hex[] = {
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x00 - 0x0f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x10 - 0x1f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x20 - 0x2f */
+	 0,  1,  2,  3,  4,  5,  6,  7,  8,  9, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x30 - 0x3f */
+	IH, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x40 - 0x4f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x50 - 0x5f */
+	IH, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x60 - 0x6f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x70 - 0x7f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x80 - 0x8f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0x90 - 0x9f */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0xa0 - 0xaf */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0xb0 - 0xbf */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0xc0 - 0xcf */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0xd0 - 0xdf */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH,	/* 0xe0 - 0xef */
+	IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH, IH 	/* 0xf0 - 0xff */
+};
+
+
 /** An entry in css_property_table. */
 struct css_property_entry {
 	const char name[25];
@@ -658,53 +681,35 @@ int parse_length(struct css_length * const length,
 colour named_colour(const char *name)
 {
 	struct css_colour_entry *col;
-	unsigned int r, g, b;
 
 	col = bsearch(name, css_colour_table,
 			sizeof css_colour_table / sizeof css_colour_table[0],
 			sizeof css_colour_table[0],
 			(int (*)(const void *, const void *)) strcasecmp);
-	if (col == 0) {
-		/* A common error is the omission of the '#' from the
-		 * start of a colour specified in #rrggbb format.
-		 * This attempts to detect and recover from this.
-		 */
-		if (strlen(name) == 6 &&
-		    sscanf(name, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3) {
-			return (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		}
-		else
-			return TRANSPARENT;
-	}
-	return col->col;
+	if (col != 0)
+		return col->col;
+
+	/* A common error is the omission of the '#' from the
+	 * start of a colour specified in #rrggbb or #rgb format.
+	 * This attempts to detect and recover from this.
+	 */
+	int length = strlen(name);
+	if ((length == 3) || (length == 6))
+		return hex_colour(name, length);
+	return CSS_COLOR_NONE;
 }
 
 
 colour parse_colour(const struct css_node * const v)
 {
 	colour c = CSS_COLOR_NONE;
-	unsigned int r, g, b;
 	struct css_colour_entry *col;
 	char colour_name[21];
-	bool valid_hex = true;
 
 	switch (v->type) {
 		case CSS_NODE_HASH:
-
-			for (unsigned int i = 1; i < v->data_length; i++) {
-				if (!isxdigit(v->data[i])) {
-					valid_hex = false;
-					break;
-				}
-			}
-
-			if (v->data_length == 4 && valid_hex == true) {
-				if (sscanf(v->data + 1, "%1x%1x%1x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-					c = (b << 20) | (b << 16) | (g << 12) | (g << 8) | (r << 4) | r;
-			} else if (v->data_length == 7 && valid_hex == true) {
-				if (sscanf(v->data + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-					c = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-			}
+			if ((v->data_length == 4) || (v->data_length == 7))
+				c = hex_colour(v->data + 1, v->data_length - 1);
 			break;
 
 		case CSS_NODE_FUNCTION:
@@ -735,29 +740,45 @@ colour parse_colour(const struct css_node * const v)
 	/* Hex colour vaules without a preceding # are invalid but it is a
 	 * common omission that other browsers cater for. */
 	if (c == CSS_COLOR_NONE && (v->type == CSS_NODE_DELIM ||
-		v->type == CSS_NODE_IDENT || v->type == CSS_NODE_NUMBER ||
-		v->type == CSS_NODE_DIMENSION)) {
-
-		for (unsigned int i = 0; i < v->data_length; i++) {
-			if (!isxdigit(v->data[i])) {
-				valid_hex = false;
-				break;
-			}
-		}
-
-		if (v->data_length == 3 && valid_hex == true) {
-			if (sscanf(v->data, "%1x%1x%1x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-				c = (b << 20) | (b << 16) | (g << 12) | (g << 8) | (r << 4) | r;
-		} else if (v->data_length == 6 && valid_hex == true) {
-			if (sscanf(v->data, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-				c = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		}
-		LOG(("Invalid CSS colour: %.*s", v->data_length, v->data));
+			v->type == CSS_NODE_IDENT || v->type == CSS_NODE_NUMBER ||
+			v->type == CSS_NODE_DIMENSION)) {
+		if ((v->data_length == 3) || (v->data_length == 6))
+			return hex_colour(v->data, v->data_length);
 	}
 	return c;
 }
 
 
+/**
+ * Parse an RGB value in hexadecimal notation.
+ */
+colour hex_colour(const char *text, int length)
+{
+	colour c;
+
+	/* parse RGB */
+	if (length == 3) {
+		c = ascii_to_hex[(int)text[0]] | (ascii_to_hex[(int)text[1]] << 8) |
+				(ascii_to_hex[(int)text[2]] << 16);
+		if (c & (0xff << 24))
+			return CSS_COLOR_NONE;
+		return c | (c << 4);
+	}
+
+	/* parse RRGGBB */
+	if (length == 6) {
+		c = ascii_to_hex[(int)text[1]] | (ascii_to_hex[(int)text[0]] << 4) |
+				(ascii_to_hex[(int)text[3]] << 8) | (ascii_to_hex[(int)text[2]] << 12) |
+				(ascii_to_hex[(int)text[5]] << 16) | (ascii_to_hex[(int)text[4]] << 20);
+		if (c & (0xff << 24))
+			return CSS_COLOR_NONE;
+		return c;
+	}
+
+	assert(!"Invalid hexadecimal colour length.");
+}
+
+
 /**
  * Parse an RGB value in functional notation.
  */
diff --git a/render/box_construct.c b/render/box_construct.c
index ed54cc96d..9519f8ff8 100644
--- a/render/box_construct.c
+++ b/render/box_construct.c
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ static bool box_get_attribute(xmlNode *n, const char *attribute,
 		void *context, char **value);
 static struct frame_dimension *box_parse_multi_lengths(const char *s,
 		unsigned int *count);
+static void parse_inline_colour(char *text, colour *variable);
 
 
 /* element_table must be sorted by name */
@@ -297,7 +298,7 @@ bool box_construct_element(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 	struct box *inline_end;
 	struct css_style *style = 0;
 	struct element_entry *element;
-	colour border_color;
+	colour border_color = 0x888888;
 	xmlChar *title0;
 	xmlNode *c;
 
@@ -509,7 +510,7 @@ bool box_construct_element(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 	if (strcmp((const char *) n->name, "table") == 0) {
-		border_color = 0x888888;	/* default colour */
+	 	border_color = CSS_COLOR_NONE;	/* not set */
 		if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n,
 				(const xmlChar *) "cellpadding"))) {
 			char *endp;
@@ -521,11 +522,7 @@ bool box_construct_element(xmlNode *n, struct content *content,
 		}
 		if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n,
 					(const xmlChar *) "bordercolor"))) {
-			unsigned int r, g, b;
-			if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-				border_color = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-			else if (s[0] != '#')
-				border_color = named_colour(s);
+			parse_inline_colour(s, &border_color);
 			xmlFree(s);
 		}
 		if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n,
@@ -834,20 +831,12 @@ struct css_style * box_get_style(struct content *c,
 
 	if (((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n, (const xmlChar *) "bgcolor"))) &&
 			(style->background_color == TRANSPARENT)) {
-		unsigned int r, g, b;
-		if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-			style->background_color = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		else if (s[0] != '#')
-			style->background_color = named_colour(s);
+		parse_inline_colour(s, &style->background_color);
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 
 	if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n, (const xmlChar *) "color"))) {
-		unsigned int r, g, b;
-		if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-			style->color = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		else if (s[0] != '#')
-			style->color = named_colour(s);
+		parse_inline_colour(s, &style->color);
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 
@@ -894,12 +883,7 @@ struct css_style * box_get_style(struct content *c,
 
 	if (strcmp((const char *) n->name, "body") == 0) {
 		if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n, (const xmlChar *) "text"))) {
-			unsigned int r, g, b;
-			if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x",
-					&r, &g, &b) == 3)
-				style->color = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-			else if (s[0] != '#')
-				style->color = named_colour(s);
+		  	parse_inline_colour(s, &style->color);
 			xmlFree(s);
 		}
 	}
@@ -1726,11 +1710,7 @@ bool box_create_frameset(struct content_html_frames *f, xmlNode *n,
 	}
 	/* common extension: bordercolor="#RRGGBB|<named colour>" to control all children */
 	if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n, (const xmlChar *) "bordercolor"))) {
-		unsigned int r, g, b;
-		if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-			default_border_colour = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		else if (s[0] != '#')
-			default_border_colour = named_colour(s);
+	  	parse_inline_colour(s, &default_border_colour);
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 
@@ -1836,11 +1816,7 @@ bool box_create_frameset(struct content_html_frames *f, xmlNode *n,
 				xmlFree(s);
 			}
 			if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(c, (const xmlChar *) "bordercolor"))) {
-				unsigned int r, g, b;
-				if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-					frame->border_colour = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-				else if (s[0] != '#')
-					frame->border_colour = named_colour(s);
+				parse_inline_colour(s, &frame->border_colour);
 				xmlFree(s);
 			}
 
@@ -1910,11 +1886,7 @@ bool box_iframe(BOX_SPECIAL_PARAMS)
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 	if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n, (const xmlChar *) "bordercolor"))) {
-		unsigned int r, g, b;
-		if (s[0] == '#' && sscanf(s + 1, "%2x%2x%2x", &r, &g, &b) == 3)
-			iframe->border_colour = (b << 16) | (g << 8) | r;
-		else if (s[0] != '#')
-			iframe->border_colour = named_colour(s);
+	  	parse_inline_colour(s, &iframe->border_colour);
 		xmlFree(s);
 	}
 	if ((s = (char *) xmlGetProp(n,
@@ -2811,3 +2783,19 @@ struct frame_dimension *box_parse_multi_lengths(const char *s,
 	*count = n;
 	return length;
 }
+
+
+/**
+ * Parse an inline colour string
+ */
+static void parse_inline_colour(char *s, colour *variable) {
+	colour new_colour = CSS_COLOR_NONE;
+	if (s[0] == '#') {
+	  	if (strlen(s) == 7)
+	  		new_colour = hex_colour(s + 1, 6);
+	} else {
+	  	new_colour = named_colour(s);
+	}
+	if (new_colour != CSS_COLOR_NONE)
+		 *variable = new_colour;
+}