diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
index 2db640681d..024357b266 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/ui_config.cc
@@ -260,8 +260,15 @@ UIConfiguration::color_file_name (bool use_my, bool with_version) const
 		basename += "my-";
 	}
 
-	//this is the overall theme file, e.g. "dark" plus "-downcase(PROGRAM_NAME)"
-	basename += color_file.get();  
+	std::string color_name = color_file.get();
+	size_t sep = color_name.find_first_of("-");
+	if (sep != string::npos) {
+		color_name = color_name.substr (0, sep);
+	}
+
+	basename += color_name;
+	basename += "-";
+	basename += downcase(PROGRAM_NAME);
 
 	std::string rev (revision);
 	std::size_t pos = rev.find_first_of("-");
diff --git a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
index 26b048f2b0..16607348f3 100644
--- a/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
+++ b/gtk2_ardour/utils.cc
@@ -403,7 +403,12 @@ ARDOUR_UI_UTILS::get_color_themes (map<std::string,std::string>& themes)
 				continue;
 			}
 
-			themes.insert (make_pair (prop->value(), Glib::filename_to_utf8 (basename_nosuffix(*e))));
+			std::string color_name = basename_nosuffix(*e);
+			size_t sep = color_name.find_first_of("-");
+			if (sep != string::npos) {
+				color_name = color_name.substr (0, sep);
+			}
+			themes.insert (make_pair (prop->value(), color_name));
 		}
 	}
 }