diff --git a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
index 092d41777..4ca1a3632 100644
--- a/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
+++ b/contrib/epee/src/mlog.cpp
@@ -338,11 +338,21 @@ bool is_stdout_a_tty()
   return is_a_tty.load(std::memory_order_relaxed);
 }
 
+static bool is_nocolor()
+{
+  static const char *no_color_var = getenv("NO_COLOR");
+  static const bool no_color = no_color_var && *no_color_var; // apparently, NO_COLOR=0 means no color too (as per no-color.org)
+  return no_color;
+}
+
 void set_console_color(int color, bool bright)
 {
   if (!is_stdout_a_tty())
     return;
 
+  if (is_nocolor())
+    return;
+
   switch(color)
   {
   case console_color_default:
@@ -461,6 +471,9 @@ void reset_console_color() {
   if (!is_stdout_a_tty())
     return;
 
+  if (is_nocolor())
+    return;
+
 #ifdef WIN32
   HANDLE h_stdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
   SetConsoleTextAttribute(h_stdout, FOREGROUND_RED | FOREGROUND_GREEN | FOREGROUND_BLUE);
diff --git a/external/easylogging++/easylogging++.cc b/external/easylogging++/easylogging++.cc
index a765ee8cc..891936b6b 100644
--- a/external/easylogging++/easylogging++.cc
+++ b/external/easylogging++/easylogging++.cc
@@ -149,6 +149,11 @@ static el::Color colorFromLevel(el::Level level)
 
 static void setConsoleColor(el::Color color, bool bright)
 {
+  static const char *no_color_var = getenv("NO_COLOR");
+  static const bool no_color = no_color_var && *no_color_var; // apparently, NO_COLOR=0 means no color too (as per no-color.org)
+  if (no_color)
+    return;
+
 #if ELPP_OS_WINDOWS
   HANDLE h_stdout = GetStdHandle(STD_OUTPUT_HANDLE);
   switch (color)