diff --git a/common/Kconfig b/common/Kconfig
index a21f3e5..25de248 100644
--- a/common/Kconfig
+++ b/common/Kconfig
@@ -751,6 +751,14 @@
 
 endchoice
 
+config CONSOLE_ALLOW_COLOR
+	prompt "Allow colored console output during boot"
+	bool
+	help
+	  If enabled, colored output is allowed during boot. This is the
+	  compile time default for colored console output. After boot it
+	  can be controlled using global.allow_color.
+
 config PBL_CONSOLE
 	depends on PBL_IMAGE
 	depends on !CONSOLE_NONE
diff --git a/common/console_common.c b/common/console_common.c
index d051458..0202345 100644
--- a/common/console_common.c
+++ b/common/console_common.c
@@ -145,15 +145,28 @@
 	return ret;
 }
 
-static int loglevel_init(void)
+#ifdef CONFIG_CONSOLE_ALLOW_COLOR
+static unsigned int __console_allow_color = 1;
+#else
+static unsigned int __console_allow_color = 0;
+#endif
+
+bool console_allow_color(void)
+{
+	return __console_allow_color;
+}
+
+static int console_common_init(void)
 {
 	if (IS_ENABLED(CONFIG_LOGBUF))
 		globalvar_add_simple_int("log_max_messages",
 				&barebox_log_max_messages, "%d");
 
+	globalvar_add_simple_bool("allow_color", &__console_allow_color);
+
 	return globalvar_add_simple_int("loglevel", &barebox_loglevel, "%d");
 }
-device_initcall(loglevel_init);
+device_initcall(console_common_init);
 
 void log_print(unsigned flags)
 {
diff --git a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/bin/init b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/bin/init
index 7af3c7d..6f3a34d 100644
--- a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/bin/init
+++ b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/bin/init
@@ -6,7 +6,6 @@
 global user
 global autoboot_timeout
 global boot.default
-global allow_color
 global linux.bootargs.base
 global linux.bootargs.console
 #linux.bootargs.dyn.* will be cleared at the beginning of boot
@@ -20,8 +19,6 @@
 [ -z "${global.autoboot_timeout}" ] && global.autoboot_timeout=3
 magicvar -a global.autoboot_timeout "timeout in seconds before automatic booting"
 [ -z "${global.boot.default}" ] && global.boot.default=net
-[ -z "${global.allow_color}" ] && global.allow_color=true
-magicvar -a global.allow_color "Allow color on the console (boolean)"
 [ -z "${global.editcmd}" ] && global.editcmd=sedit
 
 [ -e /env/config-board ] && /env/config-board
diff --git a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/data/ansi-colors b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/data/ansi-colors
index 6365329..c61cae2 100644
--- a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/data/ansi-colors
+++ b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/data/ansi-colors
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-if [ ${global.allow_color} != "true" ]; then
+if [ ${global.allow_color} != "1" ]; then
 	exit
 fi
 
diff --git a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/init/ps1 b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/init/ps1
index 02d7b4b..bbb5443 100644
--- a/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/init/ps1
+++ b/defaultenv/defaultenv-2-base/init/ps1
@@ -1,6 +1,6 @@
 #!/bin/sh
 
-if [ ${global.allow_color} = "true" ]; then
+if [ ${global.allow_color} = "1" ]; then
         export PS1="\e[1;32mbarebox@\e[1;36m\h:\w\e[0m "
 else
         export PS1="barebox@\h:\w "
diff --git a/include/console.h b/include/console.h
index 724168e..a8b2663 100644
--- a/include/console.h
+++ b/include/console.h
@@ -94,4 +94,6 @@
 static inline void pbl_set_putc(void (*putcf)(void *ctx, int c), void *ctx) {}
 #endif
 
+bool console_allow_color(void);
+
 #endif