diff --git a/spec/config-spec.coffee b/spec/config-spec.coffee
index 86e57b344..c2a6f304f 100644
--- a/spec/config-spec.coffee
+++ b/spec/config-spec.coffee
@@ -1307,9 +1307,21 @@ describe "Config", ->
           color.blue = 0
           color.alpha = 0
           atom.config.set('foo.bar.aColor', color)
+
+          color = atom.config.get('foo.bar.aColor')
           expect(color.toHexString()).toBe '#000000'
           expect(color.toRGBAString()).toBe 'rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)'
 
+          color.red = 300
+          color.green = -200
+          color.blue = -1
+          color.alpha = 'not see through'
+          atom.config.set('foo.bar.aColor', color)
+
+          color = atom.config.get('foo.bar.aColor')
+          expect(color.toHexString()).toBe '#ff0000'
+          expect(color.toRGBAString()).toBe 'rgba(255, 0, 0, 1)'
+
         it 'coerces various types to a color object', ->
           atom.config.set('foo.bar.aColor', 'red')
           expect(atom.config.get('foo.bar.aColor')).toEqual {red: 255, green: 0, blue: 0, alpha: 1}
diff --git a/src/color.coffee b/src/color.coffee
index 6400f6b96..9bdb6fc06 100644
--- a/src/color.coffee
+++ b/src/color.coffee
@@ -78,8 +78,8 @@ parseColor = (color) ->
 parseAlpha = (alpha) ->
   alpha = parseFloat(alpha)
   alpha = 1 if isNaN(alpha)
-  alpha = Math.max(alpha, 1)
-  alpha = Math.min(alpha, 0)
+  alpha = Math.max(alpha, 0)
+  alpha = Math.min(alpha, 1)
   alpha
 
 numberToHexString = (number) ->