diff --git a/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl b/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
index 7cda68b11..4e0283596 100644
--- a/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
+++ b/kitty/cell_fragment.glsl
@@ -191,15 +191,7 @@ void main() {
 #endif
 #endif
 
-#ifdef SPECIAL
-#ifdef TRANSPARENT
-    final_color = vec4_premul(background, bg_alpha);
-#else
-    final_color = vec4(background, bg_alpha);
-#endif
-#endif
-
-#ifdef BACKGROUND
+#if defined(BACKGROUND) || defined(SPECIAL)
 #ifdef TRANSPARENT
     final_color = vec4_premul(background, bg_alpha);
 #else
diff --git a/kitty/cell_vertex.glsl b/kitty/cell_vertex.glsl
index ca9a84af6..a1ff34867 100644
--- a/kitty/cell_vertex.glsl
+++ b/kitty/cell_vertex.glsl
@@ -215,9 +215,11 @@ void main() {
 #if defined(BACKGROUND)
     background = bg;
     // draw_bg_bitfield has bit 0 set to draw default bg cells and bit 1 set to draw non-default bg cells
+#ifndef SPECIAL
     uint draw_bg_mask = uint(2 * cell_has_non_default_bg + (1 - cell_has_non_default_bg));
     draw_bg = step(1, float(draw_bg_bitfield & draw_bg_mask));
 #endif
+#endif
 
 #ifdef TRANSPARENT
     // Set bg_alpha to background_opacity on cells that have the default background color