diff --git a/src/color.c b/src/color.c
index ab56a140..f187b472 100644
--- a/src/color.c
+++ b/src/color.c
@@ -61,9 +61,8 @@ void set_syntax_colorpairs(syntaxtype *sntx)
 	}
 }
 
-/* Initialize the colors for nano's interface, and assign pair numbers
- * for the colors in each loaded syntax. */
-void set_colorpairs(void)
+/* Initialize the color pairs for nano's interface. */
+void set_interface_colorpairs(void)
 {
 	bool using_defaults = FALSE;
 
@@ -102,11 +101,6 @@ void set_colorpairs(void)
 
 		free(color_combo[index]);
 	}
-
-	/* For each loaded syntax, assign pair numbers to color combinations. */
-	for (syntaxtype *sntx = syntaxes; sntx != NULL; sntx = sntx->next)
-		if (sntx->filename == NULL)
-			set_syntax_colorpairs(sntx);
 }
 
 /* Initialize the color pairs for the current syntax. */
diff --git a/src/nano.c b/src/nano.c
index ada0be26..018db9c0 100644
--- a/src/nano.c
+++ b/src/nano.c
@@ -2254,7 +2254,7 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 	started_curses = TRUE;
 
 #ifdef ENABLE_COLOR
-	set_colorpairs();
+	set_interface_colorpairs();
 #else
 	interface_color_pair[TITLE_BAR] = hilite_attribute;
 	interface_color_pair[LINE_NUMBER] = hilite_attribute;
diff --git a/src/proto.h b/src/proto.h
index 099ade38..f398bfe4 100644
--- a/src/proto.h
+++ b/src/proto.h
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ bool is_valid_unicode(wchar_t wc);
 
 /* Most functions in color.c. */
 #ifdef ENABLE_COLOR
-void set_colorpairs(void);
+void set_interface_colorpairs(void);
 void prepare_palette(void);
 void find_and_prime_applicable_syntax(void);
 void set_up_multicache(linestruct *line);