diff --git a/ChangeLog b/ChangeLog
index 16e563942..0b64da54d 100644
--- a/ChangeLog
+++ b/ChangeLog
@@ -7,6 +7,8 @@ v0.3.9-dev, 2012-08-17
 Version 0.3.9 (under dev!)
 --------------------------
 
+* core: fix color of long lines (displayed on more than one line on screen)
+  under FreeBSD (bug #36999)
 * core: add mouse bindings ctrl+wheel up/down to scroll horizontally buffers
   with free content
 * core: return error string to callback of hook_connect if getaddrinfo fails in
diff --git a/src/gui/curses/gui-curses-chat.c b/src/gui/curses/gui-curses-chat.c
index a44a61479..b3bc4b96a 100644
--- a/src/gui/curses/gui-curses-chat.c
+++ b/src/gui/curses/gui-curses-chat.c
@@ -502,6 +502,12 @@ gui_chat_display_word (struct t_gui_window *window,
                 if (!simulate)
                 {
                     wattr_set (GUI_WINDOW_OBJECTS(window)->win_chat, attrs, pair, NULL);
+                    /*
+                     * for unknown reason, the wattr_set function sometimes
+                     * fails to set the color pair under FreeBSD, so we force
+                     * it again with wcolor_set
+                     */
+                    wcolor_set (GUI_WINDOW_OBJECTS(window)->win_chat, pair, NULL);
                     gui_window_restore_style ();
                 }
             }