diff --git a/ack b/ack
index 8d6ad61a..c290793e 100755
--- a/ack
+++ b/ack
@@ -903,6 +903,16 @@ sub pmif_normal {
     return $nmatches;
 }
 
+sub color_match {
+    my ( $text, $color ) = @_;
+
+    if ( $color =~ /\A([0-9]|[1-9][0-9]|1[0-9][0-9]|2[0-4][0-9]|25[0-5])\z/ ) {
+        return "\e[38;5;$1m${text}\e[0m";
+    }
+
+    return Term::ANSIColor::colored( $text, $color );
+}
+
 
 sub print_line_with_options {
     my ( $filename, $line, $lineno, $separator, $skip_coloring ) = @_;
@@ -983,7 +993,9 @@ sub print_line_with_options {
                 last if $match_length <= 0;
 
                 my $substring    = substr( $line, $match_start, $match_length );
-                my $substitution = Term::ANSIColor::colored( $substring, $ENV{ACK_COLOR_MATCH} );
+                # my $substitution = Term::ANSIColor::colored( $substring, $ENV{ACK_COLOR_MATCH} );
+                my $substitution = color_match( $substring, $ENV{ACK_COLOR_MATCH} );
+
 
                 # Fourth argument replaces the string specified by the first three.
                 substr( $line, $match_start, $match_length, $substitution );
diff --git a/t/ack-color.t b/t/ack-color.t
index bdf4a4c3..cc75356a 100644
--- a/t/ack-color.t
+++ b/t/ack-color.t
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ use Test::More;
 use lib 't';
 use Util;
 
-plan tests => 15;
+plan tests => 16;
 
 prep_environment();
 
@@ -134,6 +134,26 @@ subtest 'Passing args for colors' => sub {
 };
 
 
+subtest 'ANSI 256 colors' => sub {
+    plan tests => 2;
+
+    my $file = reslash( 't/text/ozymandias.txt' );
+    my @args = qw( mighty -i -w --color --color-match=208 );
+    my @results = run_ack( @args, $file );
+
+    is_deeply( \@results, [
+        "Look on my works, ye \e[38;5;208mMighty\e[0m, and despair!'$line_end",
+    ], '256-color match' );
+
+    @args = qw( mighty -i -w --color --color-match=255 );
+    @results = run_ack( @args, $file );
+
+    is_deeply( \@results, [
+        "Look on my works, ye \e[38;5;255mMighty\e[0m, and despair!'$line_end",
+    ], '256-color match at upper bound' );
+};
+
+
 subtest 'Filename colors with count' => sub {
     if ( !has_io_pty() ) {
         plan skip_all => 'IO::Pty is required for this test';