diff --git a/lib/fork.js b/lib/fork.js
index e24340c8c..51fd0ecdf 100644
--- a/lib/fork.js
+++ b/lib/fork.js
@@ -4,8 +4,17 @@ const path = require('path');
 const fs = require('fs');
 const Promise = require('bluebird');
 const debug = require('debug')('ava');
+const supportsColor = require('supports-color');
 const AvaError = require('./ava-error');
 
+const colorLevels = {
+	0: 'false',
+	1: 'true',
+	2: '256',
+	3: '16m'
+};
+const currentColorLevel = colorLevels[supportsColor.level];
+
 if (fs.realpathSync(__filename) !== __filename) {
 	console.warn('WARNING: `npm link ava` and the `--preserve-symlink` flag are incompatible. We have detected that AVA is linked via `npm link`, and that you are using either an early version of Node 6, or the `--preserve-symlink` flag. This breaks AVA. You should upgrade to Node 6.2.0+, avoid the `--preserve-symlink` flag, or avoid using `npm link ava`.');
 }
@@ -34,7 +43,8 @@ module.exports = (file, opts, execArgv) => {
 		} : false
 	}, opts);
 
-	const args = [JSON.stringify(opts), opts.color ? '--color' : '--no-color'].concat(opts.workerArgv);
+	const colorArg = opts.color ? `--color=${currentColorLevel}` : '--no-color';
+	const args = [JSON.stringify(opts), colorArg].concat(opts.workerArgv);
 
 	const ps = childProcess.fork(path.join(__dirname, 'test-worker.js'), args, {
 		cwd: opts.projectDir,