diff --git a/src/color.cc b/src/color.cc
index 54e480022..2dc71af0c 100644
--- a/src/color.cc
+++ b/src/color.cc
@@ -5,7 +5,20 @@
 namespace Kakoune
 {
 
-Color str_to_color(const String& color)
+bool is_color_name(StringView color)
+{
+    return color == "default" or
+           color == "black" or
+           color == "red" or
+           color == "green" or
+           color == "yellow" or
+           color == "blue" or
+           color == "magenta" or
+           color == "cyan" or
+           color == "white";
+}
+
+Color str_to_color(StringView color)
 {
     if (color == "default") return Colors::Default;
     if (color == "black")   return Colors::Black;
@@ -18,10 +31,10 @@ Color str_to_color(const String& color)
     if (color == "white")   return Colors::White;
 
     static const Regex rgb_regex{"rgb:[0-9a-fA-F]{6}"};
-    if (boost::regex_match(color, rgb_regex))
+    if (boost::regex_match(color.begin(), color.end(), rgb_regex))
     {
         unsigned l;
-        sscanf(color.c_str() + 4, "%x", &l);
+        sscanf(color.zstr() + 4, "%x", &l);
         return { (unsigned char)((l >> 16) & 0xFF),
                  (unsigned char)((l >> 8) & 0xFF),
                  (unsigned char)(l & 0xFF) };
@@ -59,7 +72,7 @@ String option_to_string(Color color)
     return color_to_str(color);
 }
 
-void option_from_string(const String& str, Color& color)
+void option_from_string(StringView str, Color& color)
 {
     color = str_to_color(str);
 }
diff --git a/src/color.hh b/src/color.hh
index 838041f41..f6b3e8421 100644
--- a/src/color.hh
+++ b/src/color.hh
@@ -7,6 +7,7 @@ namespace Kakoune
 {
 
 class String;
+class StringView;
 
 enum class Colors : char
 {
@@ -40,11 +41,13 @@ struct Color
     { return color != c.color or r != c.r or g != c.g or b != c.b; }
 };
 
-Color str_to_color(const String& color);
+Color str_to_color(StringView color);
 String color_to_str(Color color);
 
 String option_to_string(Color color);
-void option_from_string(const String& str, Color& color);
+void option_from_string(StringView str, Color& color);
+
+bool is_color_name(StringView color);
 
 }
 
diff --git a/src/face_registry.cc b/src/face_registry.cc
index c28cc2a36..93e9c9f09 100644
--- a/src/face_registry.cc
+++ b/src/face_registry.cc
@@ -51,8 +51,9 @@ void FaceRegistry::register_alias(const String& name, const String& facedesc,
     if (not override and m_aliases.find(name) != m_aliases.end())
         throw runtime_error("alias '" + name + "' already defined");
 
-    if (name.empty() or
-        find_if(name, [](char c){ return not isalnum(c); }) != name.end())
+    if (name.empty() or is_color_name(name) or
+        std::any_of(name.begin(), name.end(),
+                    [](char c){ return not isalnum(c); }))
         throw runtime_error("invalid alias name");
 
     FaceOrAlias& alias = m_aliases[name];