diff --git a/source/dub/commandline.d b/source/dub/commandline.d
index 9239481..9d9e2c5 100644
--- a/source/dub/commandline.d
+++ b/source/dub/commandline.d
@@ -457,7 +457,7 @@
 
 	try handler.prepareOptions(common_args);
 	catch (Exception e) {
-		if (options.colors_mode == "auto") {
+		if (options.colors_mode == "" || options.colors_mode == "auto") {
 			// we already detected whether to enable colors or not with initLogging() above
 			// this if case is here just to make the else below work correctly
 		} else if (options.colors_mode == "on") {