diff --git a/clients/desktop-shell.c b/clients/desktop-shell.c
index 68d7c2e11..30ffaedae 100644
--- a/clients/desktop-shell.c
+++ b/clients/desktop-shell.c
@@ -1191,6 +1191,9 @@ background_create(struct desktop *desktop, struct output *output)
 	weston_config_section_get_color(s, "background-color",
 					&background->color, 0x00000000);
 
+	/* Backgrounds must be fully opaque. */
+	background->color |= 0xFF000000;
+
 	weston_config_section_get_string(s, "background-type",
 					 &type, "tile");
 	if (type == NULL) {
diff --git a/man/weston.ini.man b/man/weston.ini.man
index f50be1f38..70ec330d6 100644
--- a/man/weston.ini.man
+++ b/man/weston.ini.man
@@ -401,9 +401,9 @@ enough to cover the output, and centers it. The image ends up cropped from
 left and right, or top and bottom, if the aspect ratio does not match the
 output. Tile repeats the background image to fill the output.
 .TP 7
-.BI "background-color=" 0xAARRGGBB
+.BI "background-color=" 0xRRGGBB
 sets the color of the background (unsigned integer). The hexadecimal
-digit pairs are in order alpha, red, green, and blue.
+digit pairs are in order red, green, and blue.
 .TP 7
 .BI "clock-format=" format
 sets the panel clock format (string). Can be
diff --git a/weston.ini.in b/weston.ini.in
index 98caea07e..2da7c3618 100644
--- a/weston.ini.in
+++ b/weston.ini.in
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 [shell]
 background-image=/usr/share/backgrounds/gnome/Aqua.jpg
-background-color=0xff002244
+background-color=0x002244
 background-type=tile
 clock-format=minutes
 panel-color=0x90ff0000