diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.cpp b/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.cpp
index 4ae3d065bb..69520fc738 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.cpp
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.cpp
@@ -16,6 +16,7 @@
 
 #include <string>
 
+
 namespace lyx {
 
 void ColorCache::init()
@@ -27,11 +28,14 @@ void ColorCache::init()
 
 
 /// get the given color
-QColor const & ColorCache::get(ColorCode color) const
+QColor ColorCache::get(ColorCode color) const
 {
 	if (!initialized_)
 		const_cast<ColorCache *>(this)->init();
-	return lcolors_[color];
+	if (color <= Color_ignore)
+		return lcolors_[color];
+	// used by branches
+	return QColor(lcolor.getX11Name(color).c_str()); 
 }
 
 
diff --git a/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.h b/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.h
index b667f91197..1716d5c044 100644
--- a/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.h
+++ b/src/frontends/qt4/ColorCache.h
@@ -29,7 +29,7 @@ public:
 	ColorCache() : initialized_(false) {}
 
 	/// get the given color
-	QColor const & get(ColorCode color) const;
+	QColor get(ColorCode color) const;
 
 	/// clear all colors
 	void clear() { initialized_ = false; }
diff --git a/src/insets/InsetBranch.cpp b/src/insets/InsetBranch.cpp
index 948a8d6388..d8b2fd7cbc 100644
--- a/src/insets/InsetBranch.cpp
+++ b/src/insets/InsetBranch.cpp
@@ -82,9 +82,8 @@ void InsetBranch::setButtonLabel()
 	if (!params_.branch.empty()) {
 		// FIXME UNICODE
 		ColorCode c = lcolor.getFromLyXName(to_utf8(params_.branch));
-		if (c == Color_none) {
+		if (c == Color_none)
 			s = _("Undef: ") + s;
-		}
 	}
 	if (decoration() == InsetLayout::Classic)
 		setLabel(isOpen() ? s : getNewLabel(s) );
@@ -95,15 +94,13 @@ void InsetBranch::setButtonLabel()
 
 ColorCode InsetBranch::backgroundColor() const
 {
-	if (!params_.branch.empty()) {
-		// FIXME UNICODE
-		ColorCode c = lcolor.getFromLyXName(to_utf8(params_.branch));
-		if (c == Color_none) {
-			c = Color_error;
-		}
-		return c;
-	} else
+	if (params_.branch.empty())
 		return Inset::backgroundColor();
+	// FIXME UNICODE
+	ColorCode c = lcolor.getFromLyXName(to_utf8(params_.branch));
+	if (c == Color_none)
+		c = Color_error;
+	return c;
 }