diff --git a/README.org b/README.org
index 228be99..0fba777 100644
--- a/README.org
+++ b/README.org
@@ -28,39 +28,6 @@ Some of the modes that have icons instead of names now:
 | Slim       | [[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhoit/mode-icons/dump/icons/slim.png]]   |
 | YAML       | [[https://raw.githubusercontent.com/rhoit/mode-icons/dump/icons/yaml.png]]   |
 
-When looking at buffers with commands like ~ibuffer~, they display the
-icons for the mode names as well. If you don't like this behavior you
-can change ~mode-icons-change-mode-name~ to be nil:
-
-#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
-(setq mode-icons-change-mode-name nil)
-#+END_SRC
-
-This only displays the icon in the plain emacs mode-line.
-
-This may not work with enhanced mode-lines like ~poweline~ or
-~smart-mode-line~, since they typically look at the ~mode-name~
-variable.
-
-Additionally, if the image icon was an ~xpm~ icon, then you can have
-it changed to match your mode-line face.  In the example below, the
-inactive mode-line shows the emacs and yasnippet icon changed to match
-the inactive mode-line:
-
-[[http://i.imgur.com/QOM9wYM.png]]
-
-This is enabled by default, and can be disabled by:
-
-#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
-(setq mode-icons-desaturate-inactive nil)
-#+END_SRC
-
-You can also change the icon to match the active mode line (disabled by default):
-
-#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
-(setq mode-icons-desaturate-active t)
-#+END_SRC
-
 * Requirements
 
   As of version 0.3.0 you can also use icons from some icon fonts,
@@ -82,5 +49,40 @@ You can also change the icon to match the active mode line (disabled by default)
    [[http://gnu.org/software/emacs][Emacs]] init file.
 
 * Usage
-
   Once installed you can add =(mode-icons-mode)= to your init file.
+** Ignoring mode-icons in other buffers
+When looking at buffers with commands like ~ibuffer~, they display the
+icons for the mode names as well. If you don't like this behavior you
+can change ~mode-icons-change-mode-name~ to be nil:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq mode-icons-change-mode-name nil)
+#+END_SRC
+ 
+** Changing how mode-icons recolors images
+Additionally, if the image icon was an ~xpm~ icon, then you can have
+it changed to match your mode-line face.  In the example below, the
+inactive mode-line shows the emacs and yasnippet icon changed to match
+the inactive mode-line:
+
+[[http://i.imgur.com/QOM9wYM.png]]
+
+This is enabled by default, and can be disabled by:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq mode-icons-desaturate-inactive nil)
+#+END_SRC
+
+You can also change the icon to match the active mode line (disabled by default):
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq mode-icons-desaturate-active t)
+#+END_SRC
+
+Some of the black and white images are tagged as black and white and
+are automatically recolored to match the mode-line face.  You can turn this off
+and use the black and white image by setting:
+
+#+BEGIN_SRC emacs-lisp
+(setq mode-icons-grayscale-transform nil)
+#+END_SRC
diff --git a/mode-icons.el b/mode-icons.el
index c05a134..336d18b 100644
--- a/mode-icons.el
+++ b/mode-icons.el
@@ -411,6 +411,11 @@ This only works with xpm files."
   :type 'boolean
   :group 'mode-icons)
 
+(defcustom mode-icons-grayscale-transform t
+  "Should grayscale 'xpm-bw images match mode-line colors?"
+  :type 'boolean
+  :group 'mode-icons)
+
 (defvar mode-icons-get-icon-display (make-hash-table :test 'equal)
   "Hash table of `mode-icons-get-icon-display'.")
 
@@ -427,17 +432,19 @@ specified by type 'xpm-bw."
          (face (or face (and active 'mode-line) 'mode-line-inactive))
          (key (list icon type face active
                     mode-icons-desaturate-inactive mode-icons-desaturate-active
-                    custom-enabled-themes)))
+                    mode-icons-grayscale-transform custom-enabled-themes)))
     (or (gethash key mode-icons-get-icon-display)
         (puthash key
                  (let ((icon-path (mode-icons-get-icon-file
                                    (concat icon "." (or (and (eq type 'xpm-bw) "xpm")
                                                         (symbol-name type))))))
                    (cond
-                    ((eq type 'xpm-bw)
+                    ((and mode-icons-grayscale-transform (eq type 'xpm-bw))
                        (create-image (mode-icons-get-icon-display-xpm-bw-face icon-path face)
                                      'xpm t :ascent 'center
                                      :face face))
+                    ((eq type 'xpm-bw)
+                     `(image :type xpm :file ,icon-path :ascent center :face ',face))
                     ((and (eq type 'xpm)
                           (or (and active mode-icons-desaturate-active)
                               (and (not active) mode-icons-desaturate-inactive)))