diff --git a/dotfiles.mk b/dotfiles.mk
index 0a51b92..4132992 100644
--- a/dotfiles.mk
+++ b/dotfiles.mk
@@ -2,11 +2,19 @@ LOAD_PATH=. /usr/share/emacs/site-lisp $(HOME)/.emacs.d/site-lisp
 EMACS=emacs $(addprefix -L ,$(LOAD_PATH))
 MODE=644
 
+ifeq ($(shell if [ "`tput colors`" -gt 0 ]; then echo -n "y"; fi),y)
 FG_BLU=\033[0;34m
 FG_YEL=\033[0;33m
 FG_GRE=\033[0;32m
 FG_RED=\033[0;31m
 CLR_RE=\033[0;00m
+else
+FG_BLU=
+FG_YEL=
+FG_GRE=
+FG_RED=
+CLR_RE=
+endif
 
 compile = $(EMACS) -Q -batch -eval "(byte-compile-file \"$(1)\")"
 define newer =