diff --git a/kitty/colors.c b/kitty/colors.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2ce58d13d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/kitty/colors.c
@@ -0,0 +1,51 @@
+/*
+ * colors.c
+ * Copyright (C) 2016 Kovid Goyal <kovid at kovidgoyal.net>
+ *
+ * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
+ */
+
+#include "data-types.h"
+
+static uint32_t FG_BG_256[255] = {
+    0x000000,  // 0
+    0xcd0000,  // 1
+    0x00cd00,  // 2
+    0xcdcd00,  // 3
+    0x0000ee,  // 4
+    0xcd00cd,  // 5
+    0x00cdcd,  // 6
+    0xe5e5e5,  // 7
+    0x7f7f7f,  // 8
+    0xff0000,  // 9
+    0x00ff00,  // 10
+    0xffff00,  // 11
+    0x5c5cff,  // 12
+    0xff00ff,  // 13
+    0x00ffff,  // 14
+    0xffffff,  // 15
+};
+
+PyObject* create_256_color_table() {
+    // colors 16..232: the 6x6x6 color cube
+    const uint8_t valuerange[6] = {0x00, 0x5f, 0x87, 0xaf, 0xd7, 0xff};
+    uint8_t i, j=16;
+    for(i = 0; i < 217; i++, j++) {
+        uint8_t r = valuerange[(i / 36) % 6], g = valuerange[(i / 6) % 6], b = valuerange[i % 6];
+        FG_BG_256[j] = (r << 16) | (g << 8) | b;
+    }
+    // colors 233..253: grayscale
+    for(i = 1; i < 22; i++, j++) {
+        uint8_t v = 8 + i * 10;
+        FG_BG_256[j] = (v << 16) | (v << 8) | v;
+    }
+    
+    PyObject *ans = PyTuple_New(255);
+    if (ans == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
+    for (i=0; i < 255; i++) {
+        PyObject *temp = PyLong_FromUnsignedLong(FG_BG_256[i]);
+        if (temp == NULL) { Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; }
+        PyTuple_SET_ITEM(ans, i, temp);
+    }
+    return ans;
+}
diff --git a/kitty/data-types.c b/kitty/data-types.c
index 0e9cbd4c6..9d4422cd7 100644
--- a/kitty/data-types.c
+++ b/kitty/data-types.c
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 extern int init_LineBuf(PyObject *);
 extern int init_Cursor(PyObject *);
 extern int init_Line(PyObject *);
+extern PyObject* create_256_color_table();
 #include "gl.h"
 
 static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
@@ -37,6 +38,7 @@ PyInit_fast_data_types(void) {
         if (!init_Line(m)) return NULL;
         if (!init_Cursor(m)) return NULL;
         if (!add_module_gl_constants(m)) return NULL;
+        if (PyModule_AddObject(m, "FG_BG_256", create_256_color_table()) != 0) return NULL;
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "BOLD", BOLD_SHIFT);
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "ITALIC", ITALIC_SHIFT);
         PyModule_AddIntConstant(m, "REVERSE", REVERSE_SHIFT);
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 57008bf98..2ea6d583f 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -78,13 +78,14 @@ def option_parser():
                    help='Build extension modules with debugging symbols')
     return p
 
+
 def main():
     if sys.version_info < (3, 5):
         raise SystemExit('python >= 3.5 required')
     args = option_parser().parse_args()
     init_env(args.debug)
     if args.action == 'build':
-        compile_c_extension('kitty/fast_data_types', 'kitty/line.c', 'kitty/data-types.c', 'kitty/line-buf.c', 'kitty/cursor.c')
+        compile_c_extension('kitty/fast_data_types', 'kitty/line.c', 'kitty/data-types.c', 'kitty/line-buf.c', 'kitty/cursor.c', 'kitty/colors.c')
     elif args.action == 'test':
         os.execlp(sys.executable, sys.executable, os.path.join(base, 'test.py'))