diff --git a/src/_imaging.c b/src/_imaging.c
index 0888188fb..3dcc9af5e 100644
--- a/src/_imaging.c
+++ b/src/_imaging.c
@@ -550,10 +550,9 @@ getink(PyObject *color, Imaging im, char *ink) {
                         if (tupleSize != 1 && tupleSize != 2) {
                             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "color must be int, or tuple of one or two elements");
                             return NULL;
-                        } else if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(color, "L|i", &r, &a)) {
+                        } else if (!PyArg_ParseTuple(color, "L|i", &r, &g)) {
                             return NULL;
                         }
-                        g = b = r;
                     } else {
                         if (tupleSize != 3 && tupleSize != 4) {
                             PyErr_SetString(PyExc_TypeError, "color must be int, or tuple of one, three or four elements");