diff --git a/kitty/colors.c b/kitty/colors.c
index 507049dea..67231cb77 100644
--- a/kitty/colors.c
+++ b/kitty/colors.c
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
  * Distributed under terms of the GPL3 license.
  */
 
+#define EXTRA_INIT if (PyModule_AddFunctions(module, module_methods) != 0) return false;
 #include "data-types.h"
 #include <structmember.h>
 
@@ -29,23 +30,29 @@ static uint32_t FG_BG_256[256] = {
     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..255: grayscale
-    for(i = 1; i < 24; i++, j++) {
-        uint8_t v = 8 + i * 10;
-        FG_BG_256[j] = (v << 16) | (v << 8) | v;
+static inline void
+init_FG_BG_table() {
+    if (UNLIKELY(FG_BG_256[255] == 0)) {
+        // 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..255: grayscale
+        for(i = 1; i < 24; i++, j++) {
+            uint8_t v = 8 + i * 10;
+            FG_BG_256[j] = (v << 16) | (v << 8) | v;
+        }
     }
+}
 
-    PyObject *ans = PyTuple_New(255);
+PyObject* create_256_color_table() {
+    init_FG_BG_table();
+    PyObject *ans = PyTuple_New(arraysz(FG_BG_256));
     if (ans == NULL) return PyErr_NoMemory();
-    for (i=0; i < 255; i++) {
+    for (size_t i=0; i < arraysz(FG_BG_256); i++) {
         PyObject *temp = PyLong_FromUnsignedLong(FG_BG_256[i]);
         if (temp == NULL) { Py_CLEAR(ans); return NULL; }
         PyTuple_SET_ITEM(ans, i, temp);
@@ -59,7 +66,7 @@ new(PyTypeObject *type, PyObject UNUSED *args, PyObject UNUSED *kwds) {
 
     self = (ColorProfile *)type->tp_alloc(type, 0);
     if (self != NULL) {
-        if (FG_BG_256[255] == 0) create_256_color_table();
+        init_FG_BG_table();
         memcpy(self->color_table, FG_BG_256, sizeof(FG_BG_256));
         memcpy(self->orig_color_table, FG_BG_256, sizeof(FG_BG_256));
         self->dirty = true;
@@ -80,12 +87,10 @@ alloc_color_profile() {
 
 static PyObject*
 update_ansi_color_table(ColorProfile *self, PyObject *val) {
-#define update_ansi_color_table_doc "Update the 16 basic colors"
-    index_type i;
-
+#define update_ansi_color_table_doc "Update the 256 basic colors"
     if (!PyList_Check(val)) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "color table must be a list"); return NULL; }
-    if (PyList_GET_SIZE(val) != 16) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "color table must have 16 items"); return NULL; }
-    for (i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
+    if (PyList_GET_SIZE(val) != arraysz(FG_BG_256)) { PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "color table must have 256 items"); return NULL; }
+    for (size_t i = 0; i < arraysz(FG_BG_256); i++) {
         self->color_table[i] = PyLong_AsUnsignedLong(PyList_GET_ITEM(val, i));
         self->orig_color_table[i] = self->color_table[i];
     }
@@ -184,6 +189,10 @@ color_table_address(ColorProfile *self, PyObject *a UNUSED) {
     return PyLong_FromVoidPtr((void*)self->color_table);
 }
 
+static PyObject*
+default_color_table(PyObject *self UNUSED, PyObject *args UNUSED) {
+    return create_256_color_table();
+}
 
 // Boilerplate {{{
 
@@ -236,5 +245,11 @@ PyTypeObject ColorProfile_Type = {
     .tp_new = new,
 };
 
+static PyMethodDef module_methods[] = {
+    METHODB(default_color_table, METH_NOARGS),
+    {NULL, NULL, 0, NULL}        /* Sentinel */
+};
+
+
 INIT_TYPE(ColorProfile)
 // }}}
diff --git a/kitty/config.py b/kitty/config.py
index bac077733..f35fb76f5 100644
--- a/kitty/config.py
+++ b/kitty/config.py
@@ -20,6 +20,7 @@ from .config_utils import (
 from .constants import cache_dir, defconf
 from .fast_data_types import CURSOR_BEAM, CURSOR_BLOCK, CURSOR_UNDERLINE
 from .layout import all_layouts
+from .rgb import color_from_int
 from .utils import log_error
 
 MINIMUM_FONT_SIZE = 4
@@ -333,8 +334,8 @@ for name in (
     ' selection_foreground selection_background url_color'
 ).split():
     type_map[name] = to_color
-for i in range(16):
-    type_map['color%d' % i] = to_color
+for i in range(256):
+    type_map['color{}'.format(i)] = to_color
 for a in ('active', 'inactive'):
     for b in ('foreground', 'background'):
         type_map['%s_tab_%s' % (a, b)] = to_color
@@ -376,7 +377,17 @@ def parse_config(lines, check_keys=True):
     return ans
 
 
-Options, defaults = init_config(default_config_path, parse_config)
+def parse_defaults(lines, check_keys=False):
+    ans = parse_config(lines, check_keys)
+    dfctl = defines.default_color_table()
+
+    for i in range(16, 256):
+        k = 'color{}'.format(i)
+        ans.setdefault(k, color_from_int(dfctl[i]))
+    return ans
+
+
+Options, defaults = init_config(default_config_path, parse_defaults)
 actions = frozenset(all_key_actions) | frozenset(
     'combine send_text goto_tab goto_layout set_font_size new_tab_with_cwd new_window_with_cwd new_os_window_with_cwd'.
     split()
@@ -447,7 +458,7 @@ def load_config(*paths, overrides=None) -> Options:
     if overrides is not None:
         vals = parse_config(overrides)
         ans = merge_configs(ans, vals)
-    return Options(**ans)
+    return Options(ans)
 
 
 def build_ansi_color_table(opts: Options = defaults):
@@ -458,7 +469,7 @@ def build_ansi_color_table(opts: Options = defaults):
     def col(i):
         return as_int(getattr(opts, 'color{}'.format(i)))
 
-    return list(map(col, range(16)))
+    return list(map(col, range(256)))
 
 
 def atomic_save(data, path):
diff --git a/kitty/config_utils.py b/kitty/config_utils.py
index e95edfbf8..9ff1a1206 100644
--- a/kitty/config_utils.py
+++ b/kitty/config_utils.py
@@ -4,7 +4,6 @@
 
 import os
 import re
-from collections import namedtuple
 
 from .rgb import to_color as as_color
 from .utils import log_error
@@ -80,9 +79,25 @@ def parse_config_base(
     _parse(lines, type_map, special_handling, ans, all_keys)
 
 
+def create_options_class(keys):
+    keys = tuple(sorted(keys))
+    slots = keys + ('_fields',)
+
+    def __init__(self, kw):
+        for k, v in kw.items():
+            setattr(self, k, v)
+
+    def _asdict(self):
+        return {k: getattr(self, k) for k in self._fields}
+
+    ans = type('Options', (), {'__slots__': slots, '__init__': __init__, '_asdict': _asdict})
+    ans._fields = keys
+    return ans
+
+
 def init_config(defaults_path, parse_config):
     with open(defaults_path, encoding='utf-8', errors='replace') as f:
         defaults = parse_config(f, check_keys=False)
-    Options = namedtuple('Defaults', ','.join(defaults.keys()))
-    defaults = Options(**defaults)
+    Options = create_options_class(defaults.keys())
+    defaults = Options(defaults)
     return Options, defaults
diff --git a/kitty/kitty.conf b/kitty/kitty.conf
index 49eee41d2..c9349b22f 100644
--- a/kitty/kitty.conf
+++ b/kitty/kitty.conf
@@ -247,7 +247,8 @@ selection_foreground #000000
 selection_background #FFFACD
 
 # The 16 terminal colors. There are 8 basic colors, each color has a dull and
-# bright version.
+# bright version. You can also set the remaining colors from the 256 color table
+# as color16 to color256.
 
 # black
 color0   #000000
diff --git a/kitty/rgb.py b/kitty/rgb.py
index d52e4f5bd..1af967f48 100644
--- a/kitty/rgb.py
+++ b/kitty/rgb.py
@@ -27,6 +27,10 @@ def parse_rgb(spec):
         return Color(*map(parse_single_color, colors))
 
 
+def color_from_int(x):
+    return Color((x >> 16) & 255, (x >> 8) & 255, x & 255)
+
+
 def to_color(raw, validate=False):
     # See man XParseColor
     x = raw.strip().lower()