diff --git a/render/color.c b/render/color.c
index b9bafe32..ca1f6e89 100644
--- a/render/color.c
+++ b/render/color.c
@@ -234,9 +234,7 @@ void increase_depth(pixel32 *data, XImage *im)
                     g = (pseudo_colors[ii].green - icolor.green) & 0xff;
                     b = (pseudo_colors[ii].blue - icolor.blue) & 0xff;
                     /* find a weighted absolute deviation */
-                    dev = (r * r) * (0xff - (icolor.red & 0xff)) +
-                        (g * g) * (0xff - (icolor.green & 0xff)) +
-                        (b * b) * (0xff - (icolor.blue & 0xff));
+                    dev = (r * r) + (g * g) + (b * b);
 
                     if (dev < closest) {
                         closest = dev;
diff --git a/render/render.c b/render/render.c
index 9b721db3..f8920c25 100644
--- a/render/render.c
+++ b/render/render.c
@@ -167,9 +167,7 @@ void pseudocolor_startup(void)
         g = (pseudo_colors[i].green - icolors[ii].green) & 0xff;
         b = (pseudo_colors[i].blue - icolors[ii].blue) & 0xff;
         /* find a weighted absolute deviation */
-        dev = (r * r) * (0xff - (icolors[ii].red & 0xff)) +
-            (g * g) * (0xff - (icolors[ii].green & 0xff)) +
-            (b * b) * (0xff - (icolors[ii].blue & 0xff));
+        dev = (r * r) + (g * g) + (b * b);
 
         if (dev < closest) {
           closest = dev;