diff --git a/atom/browser/native_window.cc b/atom/browser/native_window.cc
index 732fc6301e2e..3ddc9e197af8 100644
--- a/atom/browser/native_window.cc
+++ b/atom/browser/native_window.cc
@@ -560,11 +560,11 @@ void NativeWindow::OnCapturePageDone(const CapturePageCallback& callback,
 }
 
 SkColor NativeWindow::ParseHexColor(const std::string& name) {
-  SkColor result = 0xFF000000;
-  unsigned value = 0;
   auto color = name.substr(1);
   unsigned length = color.size();
-  if (length != 3 && length != 6)
+  SkColor result = (length != 8 ? 0xFF000000 : 0x00000000);
+  unsigned value = 0;
+  if (length != 3 && length != 6 && length != 8)
     return result;
   for (unsigned i = 0; i < length; ++i) {
     if (!base::IsHexDigit(color[i]))
@@ -572,7 +572,7 @@ SkColor NativeWindow::ParseHexColor(const std::string& name) {
     value <<= 4;
     value |= (color[i] < 'A' ? color[i] - '0' : (color[i] - 'A' + 10) & 0xF);
   }
-  if (length == 6) {
+  if (length == 6 || length == 8) {
     result |= value;
     return result;
   }
diff --git a/atom/browser/native_window_mac.mm b/atom/browser/native_window_mac.mm
index d109a8c3a1ad..1f4ae43c881f 100644
--- a/atom/browser/native_window_mac.mm
+++ b/atom/browser/native_window_mac.mm
@@ -758,7 +758,7 @@ void NativeWindowMac::SetBackgroundColor(const std::string& color_name) {
   NSColor *color = [NSColor colorWithCalibratedRed:SkColorGetR(background_color)
     green:SkColorGetG(background_color)
     blue:SkColorGetB(background_color)
-    alpha:1.0];
+    alpha:SkColorGetA(background_color)/255.0f];
   [window_ setBackgroundColor:color];
 }
 
diff --git a/docs/api/browser-window.md b/docs/api/browser-window.md
index 6b6fa3c16002..6b8474662d7c 100644
--- a/docs/api/browser-window.md
+++ b/docs/api/browser-window.md
@@ -83,8 +83,9 @@ It creates a new `BrowserWindow` with native properties as set by the `options`.
   * `enableLargerThanScreen` Boolean - Enable the window to be resized larger
     than screen. Default is `false`.
   * `backgroundColor` String - Window's background color as Hexadecimal value,
-    like `#66CD00` or `#FFF`. Default is `#000` (black) for Linux and Windows,
-    `#FFF` for Mac (or clear if transparent).
+    like `#66CD00` or `#FFF` or `#80FFFFFF` (alpha is supported). Default is
+    `#000` (black) for Linux and Windows, `#FFF` for Mac (or clear if
+    transparent).
   * `hasShadow` Boolean - Whether window should have a shadow. This is only
     implemented on OS X. Default is `true`.
   * `darkTheme` Boolean - Forces using dark theme for the window, only works on