diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index 2de1929f..b18e470a 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@
 * VS15 being ignored ([#1742][1742]).
 * VS16 being ignored for a subset of the valid VS16 sequences
   ([#1742][1742]).
+* Crash in debug builds, when using OSC-12 to set the cursor color and
+  foot config has not set any custom cursor colors (i.e. without
+  OSC-12, inverted fg/bg would be used).
 
 [1694]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/1694
 [1717]: https://codeberg.org/dnkl/foot/issues/1717
diff --git a/render.c b/render.c
index 35b7c6ae..1853eb48 100644
--- a/render.c
+++ b/render.c
@@ -556,13 +556,14 @@ cursor_colors_for_cell(const struct terminal *term, const struct cell *cell,
               const pixman_color_t *fg, const pixman_color_t *bg,
               pixman_color_t *cursor_color, pixman_color_t *text_color)
 {
-    if (term->cursor_color.cursor >> 31) {
-        xassert(term->cursor_color.text >> 31);
-
+    if (term->cursor_color.cursor >> 31)
         *cursor_color = color_hex_to_pixman(term->cursor_color.cursor);
-        *text_color = color_hex_to_pixman(term->cursor_color.text);
-    } else {
+    else
         *cursor_color = *fg;
+
+    if (term->cursor_color.text >> 31)
+        *text_color = color_hex_to_pixman(term->cursor_color.text);
+    else {
         *text_color = *bg;
 
         if (unlikely(text_color->alpha != 0xffff)) {