diff --git a/Documentation/config.txt b/Documentation/config.txt
index 70b448b..6f649c9 100644
--- a/Documentation/config.txt
+++ b/Documentation/config.txt
@@ -316,7 +316,8 @@
 Colors may also be given as numbers between 0 and 255; these use ANSI
 256-color mode (but note that not all terminals may support this).  If
 your terminal supports it, you may also specify 24-bit RGB values as
-hex, like `#ff0ab3`.
+hex, like `#ff0ab3`, or 12-bit RGB values like `#f1b`, which is
+equivalent to the 24-bit color `#ff11bb`.
 +
 The accepted attributes are `bold`, `dim`, `ul`, `blink`, `reverse`,
 `italic`, and `strike` (for crossed-out or "strikethrough" letters).
diff --git a/color.c b/color.c
index f663c06..227a5ab 100644
--- a/color.c
+++ b/color.c
@@ -64,12 +64,16 @@
 	return !strncasecmp(word, match, len) && !match[len];
 }
 
-static int get_hex_color(const char *in, unsigned char *out)
+static int get_hex_color(const char **inp, int width, unsigned char *out)
 {
+	const char *in = *inp;
 	unsigned int val;
-	val = (hexval(in[0]) << 4) | hexval(in[1]);
+
+	assert(width == 1 || width == 2);
+	val = (hexval(in[0]) << 4) | hexval(in[width - 1]);
 	if (val & ~0xff)
 		return -1;
+	*inp += width;
 	*out = val;
 	return 0;
 }
@@ -135,11 +139,14 @@
 		return 0;
 	}
 
-	/* Try a 24-bit RGB value */
-	if (len == 7 && name[0] == '#') {
-		if (!get_hex_color(name + 1, &out->red) &&
-		    !get_hex_color(name + 3, &out->green) &&
-		    !get_hex_color(name + 5, &out->blue)) {
+	/* Try a 24- or 12-bit RGB value prefixed with '#' */
+	if ((len == 7 || len == 4) && name[0] == '#') {
+		int width_per_color = (len == 7) ? 2 : 1;
+		const char *color = name + 1;
+
+		if (!get_hex_color(&color, width_per_color, &out->red) &&
+		    !get_hex_color(&color, width_per_color, &out->green) &&
+		    !get_hex_color(&color, width_per_color, &out->blue)) {
 			out->type = COLOR_RGB;
 			return 0;
 		}
diff --git a/color.h b/color.h
index bb28343..7ed259a 100644
--- a/color.h
+++ b/color.h
@@ -112,7 +112,8 @@
  * Translate a Git color from 'value' into a string that the terminal can
  * interpret and store it into 'dst'. The Git color values are of the form
  * "foreground [background] [attr]" where fore- and background can be a color
- * name ("red"), a RGB code (#0xFF0000) or a 256-color-mode from the terminal.
+ * name ("red"), a RGB code (#FF0000 or #F00) or a 256-color-mode from the
+ * terminal.
  */
 int color_parse(const char *value, char *dst);
 int color_parse_mem(const char *value, int len, char *dst);
diff --git a/t/t4026-color.sh b/t/t4026-color.sh
index cc3f60d..b05f2a9 100755
--- a/t/t4026-color.sh
+++ b/t/t4026-color.sh
@@ -96,8 +96,8 @@
 	color "254 bold 255" "[1;38;5;254;48;5;255m"
 '
 
-test_expect_success '24-bit colors' '
-	color "#ff00ff black" "[38;2;255;0;255;40m"
+test_expect_success 'RGB colors' '
+	color "#ff00ff #0f0" "[38;2;255;0;255;48;2;0;255;0m"
 '
 
 test_expect_success '"default" foreground' '
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@
 	color "default default no-reverse bold" "[1;27;39;49m"
 '
 
-test_expect_success '"normal" yields no color at all"' '
+test_expect_success '"normal" yields no color at all' '
 	color "normal black" "[40m"
 '
 
@@ -140,6 +140,26 @@
 	invalid_color "dimX"
 '
 
+test_expect_success 'non-hex character in RGB color' '
+	invalid_color "#x23456" &&
+	invalid_color "#1x3456" &&
+	invalid_color "#12x456" &&
+	invalid_color "#123x56" &&
+	invalid_color "#1234x6" &&
+	invalid_color "#12345x" &&
+	invalid_color "#x23" &&
+	invalid_color "#1x3" &&
+	invalid_color "#12x"
+'
+
+test_expect_success 'wrong number of letters in RGB color' '
+	invalid_color "#1" &&
+	invalid_color "#23" &&
+	invalid_color "#789a" &&
+	invalid_color "#bcdef" &&
+	invalid_color "#1234567"
+'
+
 test_expect_success 'unknown color slots are ignored (diff)' '
 	git config color.diff.nosuchslotwilleverbedefined white &&
 	git diff --color