diff --git a/lib/colour.js b/lib/colour.js
index 9110f6f1..65743f67 100644
--- a/lib/colour.js
+++ b/lib/colour.js
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ const colourspace = {
 
 /**
  * Set the background for the `embed`, `flatten` and `extend` operations.
- * The default background is `{r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 1}`, black without transparency.
+ * The default background is `{r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 1}`, black without transparency.
  *
  * Delegates to the _color_ module, which can throw an Error
  * but is liberal in what it accepts, clipping values to sensible min/max.
@@ -29,8 +29,7 @@ const colourspace = {
  */
 const background = function background (rgba) {
   const colour = color(rgba);
-  this.options.background = colour.rgbArray();
-  this.options.background.push(colour.alpha() * 255);
+  this.options.background = colour.rgb().array().concat(colour.alpha() * 255);
   return this;
 };
 
diff --git a/package.json b/package.json
index ba4871ca..b5e7fc9a 100644
--- a/package.json
+++ b/package.json
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@
   ],
   "dependencies": {
     "caw": "^2.0.0",
-    "color": "^0.11.3",
+    "color": "^1.0.1",
     "got": "^6.6.3",
     "nan": "^2.4.0",
     "semver": "^5.3.0",
diff --git a/test/unit/embed.js b/test/unit/embed.js
index ed139bca..abf7fd06 100644
--- a/test/unit/embed.js
+++ b/test/unit/embed.js
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ describe('Embed', function () {
     it('JPEG within WebP, to include alpha channel', function (done) {
       sharp(fixtures.inputJpg)
         .resize(320, 240)
-        .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0})
+        .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0})
         .embed()
         .webp()
         .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ describe('Embed', function () {
     sharp(fixtures.inputPngWithTransparency16bit)
       .resize(32, 16)
       .embed()
-      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0})
+      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0})
       .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
         if (err) throw err;
         assert.strictEqual(true, data.length > 0);
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ describe('Embed', function () {
     sharp(fixtures.inputPngWithGreyAlpha)
       .resize(32, 16)
       .embed()
-      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0})
+      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0})
       .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
         if (err) throw err;
         assert.strictEqual(true, data.length > 0);
diff --git a/test/unit/extend.js b/test/unit/extend.js
index c618295f..853503fa 100644
--- a/test/unit/extend.js
+++ b/test/unit/extend.js
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ describe('Extend', function () {
   it('extend sides unequally with RGBA', function (done) {
     sharp(fixtures.inputPngWithTransparency16bit)
       .resize(120)
-      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0})
+      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0})
       .extend({top: 50, bottom: 0, left: 10, right: 35})
       .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {
         if (err) throw err;
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ describe('Extend', function () {
 
   it('should add alpha channel before extending with a transparent Background', function (done) {
     sharp(fixtures.inputJpgWithLandscapeExif1)
-      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, a: 0})
+      .background({r: 0, g: 0, b: 0, alpha: 0})
       .toFormat(sharp.format.png)
       .extend({top: 0, bottom: 10, left: 0, right: 10})
       .toBuffer(function (err, data, info) {