diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/ui/adapter/MessageAdapter.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/ui/adapter/MessageAdapter.java
index b4b74faa3..b6a8d3d39 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/ui/adapter/MessageAdapter.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/ui/adapter/MessageAdapter.java
@@ -411,6 +411,13 @@ public class MessageAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<Message> implements CopyTextVie
 		viewHolder.image.setVisibility(View.GONE);
 		viewHolder.audioPlayer.setVisibility(View.GONE);
 		viewHolder.messageBody.setVisibility(View.VISIBLE);
+
+		viewHolder.messageBody.setTextColor(this.getMessageTextColor(darkBackground, true));
+		viewHolder.messageBody.setLinkTextColor(this.getMessageTextColor(darkBackground, true));
+		viewHolder.messageBody.setHighlightColor(ContextCompat.getColor(activity, darkBackground
+				? (type == SENT || !mUseGreenBackground ? R.color.black26 : R.color.grey800) : R.color.grey500));
+		viewHolder.messageBody.setTypeface(null, Typeface.NORMAL);
+
 		if (message.getBody() != null) {
 			final String nick = UIHelper.getMessageDisplayName(message);
 			SpannableStringBuilder body = message.getMergedBody();
@@ -477,7 +484,7 @@ public class MessageAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<Message> implements CopyTextVie
 				body.setSpan(new RelativeSizeSpan(1.2f), matcher.start(), matcher.end(), Spannable.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
 			}
 
-			StylingHelper.format(body, true);
+			StylingHelper.format(body, viewHolder.messageBody.getCurrentTextColor());
 
 			Linkify.addLinks(body, XMPP_PATTERN, "xmpp");
 			Linkify.addLinks(body, Patterns.AUTOLINK_WEB_URL, "http", WEBURL_MATCH_FILTER, WEBURL_TRANSFORM_FILTER);
@@ -491,11 +498,6 @@ public class MessageAdapter extends ArrayAdapter<Message> implements CopyTextVie
 			viewHolder.messageBody.setText("");
 			viewHolder.messageBody.setTextIsSelectable(false);
 		}
-		viewHolder.messageBody.setTextColor(this.getMessageTextColor(darkBackground, true));
-		viewHolder.messageBody.setLinkTextColor(this.getMessageTextColor(darkBackground, true));
-		viewHolder.messageBody.setHighlightColor(ContextCompat.getColor(activity, darkBackground
-				? (type == SENT || !mUseGreenBackground ? R.color.black26 : R.color.grey800) : R.color.grey500));
-		viewHolder.messageBody.setTypeface(null, Typeface.NORMAL);
 	}
 
 	private void displayDownloadableMessage(ViewHolder viewHolder, final Message message, String text) {
diff --git a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/utils/StylingHelper.java b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/utils/StylingHelper.java
index 5077a2c58..2e434cebe 100644
--- a/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/utils/StylingHelper.java
+++ b/src/main/java/eu/siacs/conversations/utils/StylingHelper.java
@@ -63,25 +63,17 @@ public class StylingHelper {
 		}
 	}
 
-	public static void format(final Editable editable) {
-		format(editable, false);
-	}
-
-	public static void format(final Editable editable, final boolean replaceStyleAnnotation) {
-		for (ImStyleParser.Style style : ImStyleParser.parse(editable)) {
-			editable.setSpan(createSpanForStyle(style), style.getStart(), style.getEnd(), Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
-			if (replaceStyleAnnotation) {
-				editable.replace(style.getStart(), style.getStart() + 1, "\u200B");
-				editable.replace(style.getEnd(), style.getEnd() + 1, "\u200B");
-			}
-		}
-	}
-
 	public static void format(final Editable editable, @ColorInt int color) {
+		final int syntaxColor = Color.argb(
+				Math.round(Color.alpha(color) * 0.6f),
+				Color.red(color),
+				Color.green(color),
+				Color.blue(color)
+		);
 		for(ImStyleParser.Style style : ImStyleParser.parse(editable)) {
 			editable.setSpan(createSpanForStyle(style), style.getStart() + 1, style.getEnd(), Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
-			editable.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(color),style.getStart(),style.getStart()+1, Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
-			editable.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(color),style.getEnd(),style.getEnd()+1, Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
+			editable.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(syntaxColor),style.getStart(),style.getStart()+1, Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
+			editable.setSpan(new ForegroundColorSpan(syntaxColor),style.getEnd(),style.getEnd()+1, Spanned.SPAN_EXCLUSIVE_EXCLUSIVE);
 		}
 	}
 
@@ -121,14 +113,7 @@ public class StylingHelper {
 		@Override
 		public void afterTextChanged(Editable editable) {
 			clear(editable);
-			final int color = mEditText.getCurrentTextColor();
-			final int syntaxColor = Color.argb(
-					Math.round(Color.alpha(color) * 0.6f),
-					Color.red(color),
-					Color.green(color),
-					Color.blue(color)
-			);
-			format(editable,syntaxColor);
+			format(editable,mEditText.getCurrentTextColor());
 		}
 	}
 }