diff --git a/mcolor b/mcolor
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..b4a812c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/mcolor
@@ -0,0 +1,22 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+# mcolor - colorize rendered mail
+
+# restart as awk script
+true + /; exec awk -f "$0"; exit; / {}
+
+function co(n, c) { e = ENVIRON["MCOLOR_" n]; return e ? e : c }
+function fg(c, s) { return sprintf("\033[38;5;%03dm%s\033[0m", c, s) }
+function so(s) { return sprintf("\033[1m%s\033[0m", s) }
+BEGIN { hdr = 1 }
+/^$/ { hdr = 0 }
+/^-- $/ { ftr = 1 }
+/^--- .* ---/ { print fg(co("SEP",242), $0); ftr = 0; sig = 0; next }
+/^-----BEGIN .* SIGNATURE-----/ { sig = 1 }
+hdr && /^From:/ { print so(fg(co("FROM",119), $0)); next }
+hdr { print fg(co("HEADER",120), $0); next }
+ftr { print fg(co("FOOTER",244), $0); next }
+/^-----BEGIN .* MESSAGE-----/ ||
+/^-----END .* SIGNATURE-----/ { print fg(co("SIG",244), $0); sig = 0; next }
+sig { print fg(co("SIG",244), $0); next }
+/^>/ { print fg(co("QUOTE",151), $0); next }
+{ print }
diff --git a/mless b/mless
index 890dd04..708be23 100755
--- a/mless
+++ b/mless
@@ -3,25 +3,6 @@
 
 PATH="${0%/*}:$PATH"
 
-colormsg() {
-awk '
-function fg(c, s) { return sprintf("\033[38;5;%03dm%s\033[0m", c, s) }
-function so(s) { return sprintf("\033[1m%s\033[0m", s) }
-BEGIN { hdr = 1 }
-/^$/ { hdr = 0 }
-/^-- $/ { ftr = 1 }
-/^--- .* ---/ { print fg(242, $0); ftr = 0; sig = 0; next }
-/^-----BEGIN .* SIGNATURE-----/ { sig = 1 }
-hdr && /^From:/ { print so(fg(119, $0)); next }
-hdr { print fg(120, $0); next }
-ftr { print fg(244, $0); next }
-/^-----BEGIN .* MESSAGE-----/  ||
-/^-----END .* SIGNATURE-----/ { print fg(244, $0); sig = 0; next }
-sig { print fg(244, $0); next }
-/^>/ { print fg(151, $0); next }
-{ print }'
-}
-
 colorscan() {
 awk '
 function fg(c, s) { return sprintf("\033[38;5;%03dm%s\033[0m", c, s) }
@@ -51,7 +32,7 @@ if [ "$1" = --filter ]; then
 			mshow -A text/html "$2"
 		else
 			mshow "$2"
-		fi | colormsg
+		fi | mcolor
 	else
 		mseq -r $2
 		echo
@@ -72,10 +53,10 @@ fi
 case "$0" in
 	*mnext) set -- +;;
 	*mprev) set -- -;;
-	*) set -- ${1:-.};;
+	*) [ "$#" -eq 1 ] && set -- ${1:-.};;
 esac
 
-if [ "$#" -eq 1 ]; then
+if [ "$#" -ge 1 ]; then
 	mseq -C "$1"
 fi