diff --git a/pretty.c b/pretty.c
index 0521deadc0..86d69bf877 100644
--- a/pretty.c
+++ b/pretty.c
@@ -1455,8 +1455,8 @@ static size_t format_commit_one(struct strbuf *sb, /* in UTF-8 */
 	switch (placeholder[0]) {
 	case 'C':
 		if (starts_with(placeholder + 1, "(auto)")) {
-			c->auto_color = want_color(c->pretty_ctx->color);
-			if (c->auto_color && sb->len)
+			c->auto_color = c->pretty_ctx->color;
+			if (want_color(c->auto_color) && sb->len)
 				strbuf_addstr(sb, GIT_COLOR_RESET);
 			return 7; /* consumed 7 bytes, "C(auto)" */
 		} else {