diff --git a/color.h b/color.h
index f95efb29d..3bd53cd09 100644
--- a/color.h
+++ b/color.h
@@ -135,7 +135,7 @@ public:
     /** Returns whether the color is bold */
     bool is_bold() const
     {
-        return flags & flag_bold;
+        return !! (flags & flag_bold);
     }
 
     /** Set whether the color is bold */
diff --git a/screen.cpp b/screen.cpp
index 26cd975bb..fa3b3e59d 100644
--- a/screen.cpp
+++ b/screen.cpp
@@ -1361,17 +1361,32 @@ void s_reset(screen_t *s, screen_reset_mode_t mode)
         /* Do the PROMPT_SP hack */
         int screen_width = common_get_width();
         wcstring abandon_line_string;
-        abandon_line_string.reserve(screen_width);
+        abandon_line_string.reserve(screen_width + 32); //should be enough
 
         int non_space_width = wcwidth(omitted_newline_char);
         if (screen_width >= non_space_width)
         {
-            abandon_line_string.append(L"\x1b[7m"); //invert text ANSI escape sequence
+            if (output_get_supports_term256())
+            {
+                // draw the string in term256 gray
+                abandon_line_string.append(L"\x1b[38;5;245m");
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                 // draw in "bright black" (gray)
+                abandon_line_string.append(L"\x1b[0m" //bright
+                                           L"\x1b[30;1m"); //black
+            }
             abandon_line_string.push_back(omitted_newline_char);
             abandon_line_string.append(L"\x1b[0m"); //normal text ANSI escape sequence
             abandon_line_string.append(screen_width - non_space_width, L' ');
+            
         }
         abandon_line_string.push_back(L'\r');
+        // now we are certainly on a new line. But we may have dropped the omitted newline char on it. So append enough spaces to overwrite the omitted newline char, and then
+        abandon_line_string.append(non_space_width, L' ');
+        abandon_line_string.push_back(L'\r');
+        
         const std::string narrow_abandon_line_string = wcs2string(abandon_line_string);
         write_loop(STDOUT_FILENO, narrow_abandon_line_string.c_str(), narrow_abandon_line_string.size());
         s->actual.cursor.x = 0;