diff --git a/lib/middleware/runner.js b/lib/middleware/runner.js
index 06334fc44..7c0d13dbc 100644
--- a/lib/middleware/runner.js
+++ b/lib/middleware/runner.js
@@ -33,9 +33,10 @@ var createRunnerMiddleware = function (emitter, fileList, capturedBrowsers, repo
         response.write('Waiting for previous execution...\n')
       }
 
+      var data = request.body
       emitter.once('run_start', function () {
         var responseWrite = response.write.bind(response)
-
+        responseWrite.colors = data.colors
         reporter.addAdapter(responseWrite)
 
         // clean up, close runner response
@@ -46,7 +47,6 @@ var createRunnerMiddleware = function (emitter, fileList, capturedBrowsers, repo
         })
       })
 
-      var data = request.body
       log.debug('Setting client.args to ', data.args)
       config.client.args = data.args
 
diff --git a/lib/reporter.js b/lib/reporter.js
index dab5574cb..8c62cfed1 100644
--- a/lib/reporter.js
+++ b/lib/reporter.js
@@ -91,8 +91,10 @@ var createReporters = function (names, config, emitter, injector) {
   // TODO(vojta): instantiate all reporters through DI
   names.forEach(function (name) {
     if (['dots', 'progress'].indexOf(name) !== -1) {
-      var Cls = require('./reporters/' + name + (config.colors ? '_color' : ''))
-      return reporters.push(new Cls(errorFormatter, config.reportSlowerThan))
+      var Cls = require('./reporters/' + name)
+      var ClsColor = require('./reporters/' + name + '_color')
+      reporters.push(new Cls(errorFormatter, config.reportSlowerThan, config.colors))
+      return reporters.push(new ClsColor(errorFormatter, config.reportSlowerThan, config.colors))
     }
 
     var locals = {
diff --git a/lib/reporters/base.js b/lib/reporters/base.js
index 9316c766e..9aaefc612 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/base.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/base.js
@@ -2,7 +2,7 @@ var util = require('util')
 
 var helper = require('../helper')
 
-var BaseReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, adapter) {
+var BaseReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, useColors, adapter) {
   this.adapters = [adapter || process.stdout.write.bind(process.stdout)]
 
   this.onRunStart = function () {
@@ -46,9 +46,15 @@ var BaseReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, adapter) {
 
   this.write = function () {
     var msg = util.format.apply(null, Array.prototype.slice.call(arguments))
-
+    var self = this
     this.adapters.forEach(function (adapter) {
-      adapter(msg)
+      if (!helper.isDefined(adapter.colors)) {
+        adapter.colors = useColors
+      }
+
+      if (adapter.colors === self.USE_COLORS) {
+        return adapter(msg)
+      }
     })
   }
 
@@ -136,7 +142,7 @@ BaseReporter.decoratorFactory = function (formatError, reportSlow) {
   }
 }
 
-BaseReporter.decoratorFactory.$inject = ['formatError', 'config.reportSlowerThan']
+BaseReporter.decoratorFactory.$inject = ['formatError', 'config.reportSlowerThan', 'config.colors']
 
 // PUBLISH
 module.exports = BaseReporter
diff --git a/lib/reporters/dots.js b/lib/reporters/dots.js
index a0369cacf..f06b094af 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/dots.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/dots.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 var BaseReporter = require('./base')
 
-var DotsReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow) {
-  BaseReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow)
+var DotsReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, useColors) {
+  BaseReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow, useColors)
 
   var DOTS_WRAP = 80
 
diff --git a/lib/reporters/dots_color.js b/lib/reporters/dots_color.js
index ab42637cb..a583857ca 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/dots_color.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/dots_color.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 var DotsReporter = require('./dots')
 var BaseColorReporter = require('./base_color')
 
-var DotsColorReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow) {
-  DotsReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow)
+var DotsColorReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, useColors) {
+  DotsReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow, useColors)
   BaseColorReporter.call(this)
 }
 
diff --git a/lib/reporters/progress.js b/lib/reporters/progress.js
index 9b5f21086..7a39d8053 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/progress.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/progress.js
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 var BaseReporter = require('./base')
 
-var ProgressReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow) {
-  BaseReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow)
+var ProgressReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, useColors) {
+  BaseReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow, useColors)
 
   this.writeCommonMsg = function (msg) {
     this.write(this._remove() + msg + this._render())
diff --git a/lib/reporters/progress_color.js b/lib/reporters/progress_color.js
index 7d59f783e..b27f2e7eb 100644
--- a/lib/reporters/progress_color.js
+++ b/lib/reporters/progress_color.js
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 var ProgressReporter = require('./progress')
 var BaseColorReporter = require('./base_color')
 
-var ProgressColorReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow) {
-  ProgressReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow)
+var ProgressColorReporter = function (formatError, reportSlow, useColors) {
+  ProgressReporter.call(this, formatError, reportSlow, useColors)
   BaseColorReporter.call(this)
 }
 
diff --git a/test/unit/reporters/base.spec.js b/test/unit/reporters/base.spec.js
index 5c5b16496..367a457ce 100644
--- a/test/unit/reporters/base.spec.js
+++ b/test/unit/reporters/base.spec.js
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ describe('reporter', function () {
 
     beforeEach(function () {
       adapter = sinon.spy()
-      reporter = new m.BaseReporter(null, null, adapter)
+      reporter = new m.BaseReporter(null, null, false, adapter)
       return reporter
     })
 
@@ -28,6 +28,34 @@ describe('reporter', function () {
       return expect(anotherAdapter).to.have.been.calledWith('some')
     })
 
+    it('should omit adapters not using the right color', function () {
+      var anotherAdapter = sinon.spy()
+      anotherAdapter.colors = true
+      reporter.adapters.push(anotherAdapter)
+      reporter.write('some')
+      expect(adapter).to.have.been.calledWith('some')
+      return expect(anotherAdapter).to.not.have.been.called
+    })
+
+    it('should not call non-colored adapters when wrong default setting', function () {
+      var reporter = new m.BaseReporter(null, null, true, adapter)
+      var anotherAdapter = sinon.spy()
+      reporter.adapters.push(anotherAdapter)
+      reporter.write('some')
+      expect(adapter).to.not.have.been.called
+      return expect(anotherAdapter).to.not.have.been.called
+    })
+
+    it('should call colored adapters regardless of default setting', function () {
+      var reporter = new m.BaseReporter(null, null, true, adapter)
+      var anotherAdapter = sinon.spy()
+      reporter.adapters.push(anotherAdapter)
+      adapter.colors = false
+      reporter.write('some')
+      expect(adapter).to.have.been.calledWith('some')
+      return expect(anotherAdapter).to.not.have.been.called
+    })
+
     it('should format', function () {
       reporter.write('Success: %d Failure: %d', 10, 20)