diff --git a/mu/mu-config.c b/mu/mu-config.c
index 40ff2df7..c9fc9a47 100644
--- a/mu/mu-config.c
+++ b/mu/mu-config.c
@@ -79,9 +79,9 @@ set_group_mu_defaults (void)
 		MU_CONFIG.muhome = exp;
 	}
 
-	/* check for the MU_NOCOLOR env var; but in any case don't
+	/* check for the MU_NOCOLOR or NO_COLOR env vars; but in any case don't
 	 * use colors unless we're writing to a tty */
-	if (g_getenv (MU_NOCOLOR) != NULL)
+	if (g_getenv (MU_NOCOLOR) != NULL || g_getenv (NO_COLOR) != NULL)
 		MU_CONFIG.nocolor = TRUE;
 
 	if (!isatty(fileno(stdout)) || !isatty(fileno(stderr)))