diff --git a/src/compiler/tsc.ts b/src/compiler/tsc.ts
index 0d8e3341312..10eddc41b7e 100644
--- a/src/compiler/tsc.ts
+++ b/src/compiler/tsc.ts
@@ -106,8 +106,9 @@ namespace ts {
         sys.write(output);
     }
 
-    const redColorControlChar = "\u001b[91m";
-    const resetColorControlChar = "\u001b[0m";
+    const redForegroundEscapeSequence = "\u001b[91m";
+    const gutterStyleSequence = "\u001b[100;30m";
+    const resetEscapeSequence = "\u001b[0m";
 
     function reportDiagnosticWithColorAndContext(diagnostic: Diagnostic): void {
         let output = "";
@@ -129,7 +130,7 @@ namespace ts {
                 // If the error spans over 5 lines, we'll only show the first 2 and last 2 lines,
                 // so we'll skip ahead to the second-to-last line.
                 if (hasMoreThanFiveLines && firstLine + 1 < i && i < lastLine - 1) {
-                    output += padLeft("...", gutterWidth) + " ||" + sys.newLine;
+                    output += gutterStyleSequence + padLeft("...", gutterWidth) + resetEscapeSequence + " " + sys.newLine;
                     i = lastLine - 1;
                 }
 
@@ -140,11 +141,11 @@ namespace ts {
                 lineContent = lineContent.replace("\t", " ");    // convert tabs to single spaces
 
                 // Output the actual contents of the line.
-                output += padLeft(i + 1 + "", gutterWidth) + " ||" + lineContent + sys.newLine;
+                output += gutterStyleSequence + padLeft(i + 1 + "", gutterWidth) + resetEscapeSequence + " " + lineContent + sys.newLine;
                 
                 // Output the error span for the line using tildes.
-                output += padLeft("", gutterWidth) + " ||";
-                output += redColorControlChar;
+                output += gutterStyleSequence + padLeft("", gutterWidth) + resetEscapeSequence + " ";
+                output += redForegroundEscapeSequence;
                 if (i === firstLine) {
                     // If we're on the last line, then limit it to the last character of the last line.
                     // Otherwise, we'll just squiggle the rest of the line, giving 'slice' no end position.
@@ -160,7 +161,7 @@ namespace ts {
                     // Squiggle the entire line.
                     output += lineContent.replace(/./g, "~");
                 }
-                output += resetColorControlChar;
+                output += resetEscapeSequence;
 
                 output += sys.newLine;
             }