diff --git a/Tests/test_image.py b/Tests/test_image.py
index 19e64d746..b11ad1a3b 100644
--- a/Tests/test_image.py
+++ b/Tests/test_image.py
@@ -522,6 +522,16 @@ class TestImage(PillowTestCase):
         _make_new(im, blank_p, ImagePalette.ImagePalette())
         _make_new(im, blank_pa, ImagePalette.ImagePalette())
 
+    def test_p_from_rgb_rgba(self):
+        for mode, color in [
+            ("RGB", '#DDEEFF'),
+            ("RGB", (221, 238, 255)),
+            ("RGBA", (221, 238, 255, 255))
+        ]:
+            im = Image.new("P", (100, 100), color)
+            expected = Image.new(mode, (100, 100), color)
+            self.assert_image_equal(im.convert(mode), expected)
+
     def test_no_resource_warning_on_save(self):
         # https://github.com/python-pillow/Pillow/issues/835
         # Arrange
diff --git a/src/PIL/Image.py b/src/PIL/Image.py
index f2686f493..e0e67a502 100644
--- a/src/PIL/Image.py
+++ b/src/PIL/Image.py
@@ -2371,7 +2371,14 @@ def new(mode, size, color=0):
         from . import ImageColor
         color = ImageColor.getcolor(color, mode)
 
-    return Image()._new(core.fill(mode, size, color))
+    im = Image()
+    if mode == "P" and \
+       isinstance(color, (list, tuple)) and len(color) in [3, 4]:
+        # RGB or RGBA value for a P image
+        from . import ImagePalette
+        im.palette = ImagePalette.ImagePalette()
+        color = im.palette.getcolor(color)
+    return im._new(core.fill(mode, size, color))
 
 
 def frombytes(mode, size, data, decoder_name="raw", *args):