diff --git a/scene_opengl.cpp b/scene_opengl.cpp
index eca7aba8f9..d94e11880a 100644
--- a/scene_opengl.cpp
+++ b/scene_opengl.cpp
@@ -690,12 +690,12 @@ void SceneOpenGL::paintBackground( QRegion region )
     {
     if( region == infiniteRegion())
         {
-        glClearColor( 1, 1, 1, 1 ); // white
+        glClearColor( 0, 0, 0, 1 ); // black
         glClear( GL_COLOR_BUFFER_BIT );
         }
     else
         {
-        glColor4f( 1, 1, 1, 1 ); // white
+        glColor4f( 0, 0, 0, 1 ); // black
         glBegin( GL_QUADS );
         foreach( QRect r, region.rects())
             {
diff --git a/scene_xrender.cpp b/scene_xrender.cpp
index da92e4a891..91060bbab7 100644
--- a/scene_xrender.cpp
+++ b/scene_xrender.cpp
@@ -271,7 +271,7 @@ void SceneXrender::paintBackground( QRegion region )
         XFixesSetPictureClipRegion( display(), buffer, 0, 0, background_region );
         XFixesDestroyRegion( display(), background_region );
         }
-    XRenderColor col = { 0xffff, 0xffff, 0xffff, 0xffff };
+    XRenderColor col = { 0, 0, 0, 0xffff }; // black
     XRenderFillRectangle( display(), PictOpSrc, buffer, &col, 0, 0, displayWidth(), displayHeight());
     XFixesSetPictureClipRegion( display(), buffer, 0, 0, None );
     }