diff --git a/wmdocklib/helpers.py b/wmdocklib/helpers.py
index 4730990..37348b0 100644
--- a/wmdocklib/helpers.py
+++ b/wmdocklib/helpers.py
@@ -26,7 +26,6 @@ Some changes to handle the additional event handling in pywmgeneral
 First workingish version
 """
 
-import os
 import re
 
 from wmdocklib import pywmgeneral
@@ -36,11 +35,6 @@ charset_start = None
 charset_width = None
 
 MARKER = 'xxxxxxxxxxx'
-RGB_FILE_LIST = ['/etc/X11/rgb.txt',
-                 '/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt',
-                 '/usr/share/X11/rgb.txt',
-                 '/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/rgb.txt',
-                 '/usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt']
 
 
 def get_font_char_size(font_name):
@@ -163,44 +157,12 @@ def get_event():
     return pywmgeneral.check_for_events()
 
 
-def get_color_code(color_name, rgb_fname=None):
-    """Convert a color to rgb code usable in an xpm.
-
-    We use the file rgb_fname for looking up the colors. Return None if we
-    find no match. The rgb_fname should be like the one found in
-    /usr/lib/X11R6/rgb.txt on most systems.
-    """
-    if color_name.startswith('#'):
-        return color_name
-
-    if rgb_fname is None:
-        for fn in RGB_FILE_LIST:
-            if os.access(fn, os.R_OK):
-                rgb_fname = fn
-                break
-
-    if rgb_fname is None:
-        raise ValueError('Cannot find RGB file')
-
-    with open(rgb_fname, 'r') as fobj:
-        lines = fobj.readlines()
-
-    for line in lines:
-        if line[0] != '!':
-            words = line.split()
-            if len(words) > 3:
-                name = ' '.join(words[3:])
-                if color_name.lower() == name.lower():
-                    # Found the right color, get it's code
-                    try:
-                        r = int(words[0])
-                        g = int(words[1])
-                        b = int(words[2])
-                    except ValueError:
-                        continue
-
-                    return f'#{r:02x}{g:02x}{b:02x}'
-    return None
+def get_color_code(color_name):
+    """Convert a color to rgb code usable in an xpm."""
+    color = pywmgeneral.get_color(color_name)
+    if color < 0:
+        return None
+    return f"#{color:06x}"
 
 
 def get_unique_key(dict_to_check):
diff --git a/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.c b/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.c
index bb75a9b..b3ca80b 100644
--- a/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.c
+++ b/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.c
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ GC           NormalGC;
 XpmIcon      wmgen;
 Pixmap       pixmask;
 Atom         deleteAtom; /* Added 2003-06-24 for graceful shutdown. */
+Display     *display = NULL;
 
 /*****************************************************************************/
 /* The Python stuff                                                          */
@@ -245,6 +246,14 @@ pywmgeneral_checkForEvents(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
     return Py_None;
 }
 
+static PyObject *
+pywmgeneral_getColor(PyObject *self, PyObject *args) {
+    char *color_name;
+    if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(args, "s", &color_name))
+        return NULL;
+    return PyLong_FromLong((long) GetColor(color_name));
+}
+
 static PyMethodDef PyWmgeneralMethods[] = {
     {"open_xwindow", pywmgeneral_openXwindow, METH_VARARGS,
         "Open the X window containing everything."},
@@ -262,6 +271,8 @@ static PyMethodDef PyWmgeneralMethods[] = {
         "Copy an area of the global XPM."},
     {"check_for_events", pywmgeneral_checkForEvents, METH_VARARGS,
         "Check for some Xevents"},
+    {"get_color", pywmgeneral_getColor, METH_VARARGS,
+        "Get X color code for the provided name."},
     {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}
 };
 
@@ -446,7 +457,7 @@ MOUSE_REGION    mouse_region[MAX_MOUSE_REGION];
 /***********************/
 
 static void GetXPM(XpmIcon *, char **);
-static Pixel GetColor(char *);
+unsigned long GetColor(char *);
 void RedrawWindow(void);
 void AddMouseRegion(int, int, int, int, int);
 int CheckMouseRegion(int, int);
@@ -479,18 +490,25 @@ static void GetXPM(XpmIcon *wmgen, char *pixmap_bytes[]) {
 |* GetColor                                                                    *|
 \*******************************************************************************/
 
-static Pixel GetColor(char *name) {
+unsigned long GetColor(char *name) {
 
-    XColor                color;
-    XWindowAttributes    attributes;
+    XColor color;
+    /* Open default display, if it is not opened already. This is needed for
+     * using this function before openXwindow is called, when display is
+     * initialized. This might select wrong X session, or segfault on not
+     * having DISPLAY env variable around, but meh. In context of this
+     * function this is best effort */
+    if (!display)
+        display = XOpenDisplay(NULL);
+    screen = DefaultScreen(display);
+    Colormap colormap = DefaultColormap(display, screen);
 
-    XGetWindowAttributes(display, Root, &attributes);
-
-    color.pixel = 0;
-    if (!XParseColor(display, attributes.colormap, name, &color)) {
+    if (!XParseColor(display, colormap, name, &color)) {
         fprintf(stderr, "wm.app: can't parse %s.\n", name);
-    } else if (!XAllocColor(display, attributes.colormap, &color)) {
+        return -1;
+    } else if (!XAllocColor(display, colormap, &color)) {
         fprintf(stderr, "wm.app: can't allocate %s.\n", name);
+        return -2;
     }
     return color.pixel;
 }
diff --git a/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.h b/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.h
index f532437..95c26c6 100644
--- a/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.h
+++ b/wmdocklib/pywmgeneral.h
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@ Display		*display;
 
 void AddMouseRegion(int index, int left, int top, int right, int bottom);
 int CheckMouseRegion(int x, int y);
+unsigned long GetColor(char *);
 
 void openXwindow(int argc, char *argv[], char **, char *, int, int);
 void RedrawWindow(void);