diff --git a/git-add--interactive.perl b/git-add--interactive.perl
index ec47888f5775b8626a4c2c3863968af7c3b2f4e1..5f129a42030917bc5dcab67aeaf67a5f00c17677 100755
--- a/git-add--interactive.perl
+++ b/git-add--interactive.perl
@@ -14,7 +14,8 @@
 	) : ();
 my $error_color = ();
 if ($menu_use_color) {
-	my $help_color_spec = $repo->config('color.interactive.help');
+	my $help_color_spec = ($repo->config('color.interactive.help') or
+				'red bold');
 	$error_color = $repo->get_color('color.interactive.error',
 					$help_color_spec);
 }