diff --git a/src/closure.c b/src/closure.c
index 9fb3202..af3af0b 100644
--- a/src/closure.c
+++ b/src/closure.c
@@ -683,9 +683,6 @@ void FreeClosure()
    if(Closure->rawEditorContext)
       GuiFreeRawEditorContext(Closure->rawEditorContext);
 
-   if(Closure->drawGC)
-     g_object_unref(Closure->drawGC);
-
    cond_free(Closure->background);
    cond_free(Closure->foreground);
    cond_free(Closure->grid);
diff --git a/src/dvdisaster.h b/src/dvdisaster.h
index 3df2597..5ec383c 100644
--- a/src/dvdisaster.h
+++ b/src/dvdisaster.h
@@ -393,7 +393,7 @@ typedef struct _GlobalClosure
 
    /*** Common stuff for drawing curves and spirals */
 
-   GdkGC     *drawGC;
+   gboolean  colors_initialized;
    GdkColor  *background,*foreground,*grid;
    GdkColor  *redText;
    char      *redMarkup;
diff --git a/src/welcome-window.c b/src/welcome-window.c
index 985fb13..e6209cc 100644
--- a/src/welcome-window.c
+++ b/src/welcome-window.c
@@ -43,12 +43,10 @@ static void toggle_cb(GtkWidget *widget, gpointer data)
 static gboolean expose_cb(GtkWidget *widget, GdkEventExpose *event, gpointer data)
 {  GtkWidget *box = (GtkWidget*)data;
 
-   if(!Closure->drawGC)
+   if(!Closure->colors_initialized)
    {  GdkColor *bg = &widget->style->bg[0];
       GdkColormap *cmap = gdk_colormap_get_system();
 
-      Closure->drawGC = gdk_gc_new(gtk_widget_get_window(widget));
-
       memcpy(Closure->background, bg, sizeof(GdkColor));
 
       gdk_colormap_alloc_color(cmap, Closure->foreground, FALSE, TRUE);
@@ -72,6 +70,8 @@ static gboolean expose_cb(GtkWidget *widget, GdkEventExpose *event, gpointer dat
       gdk_colormap_alloc_color(cmap, Closure->whiteSector, FALSE, TRUE);
       gdk_colormap_alloc_color(cmap, Closure->darkSector, FALSE, TRUE);
 
+      Closure->colors_initialized = TRUE;
+
       /* Dirty trick for indenting the list:
 	 draw an invisible dash before each indented line */