diff --git a/src/errors.h b/src/errors.h
index 0bfafac..a5df8ed 100644
--- a/src/errors.h
+++ b/src/errors.h
@@ -3447,3 +3447,5 @@
 EXTERN char e_using_null_object[]
 	INIT(= N_("E1360: Using a null object"));
 #endif
+EXTERN char e_cannot_use_color_none_did_you_mean_none[]
+	INIT(= N_("E1361: Cannot use color \"none\", did you mean \"NONE\"?"));
diff --git a/src/gui.c b/src/gui.c
index b891005..0e00547 100644
--- a/src/gui.c
+++ b/src/gui.c
@@ -4634,12 +4634,18 @@
 	return INVALCOLOR;
     t = gui_mch_get_color(name);
 
+    int is_none = STRCMP(name, "none") == 0;
     if (t == INVALCOLOR
 #if defined(FEAT_GUI_X11) || defined(FEAT_GUI_GTK)
-	    && gui.in_use
+	    && (gui.in_use || is_none)
 #endif
 	    )
-	semsg(_(e_cannot_allocate_color_str), name);
+    {
+	if (is_none)
+	    emsg(_(e_cannot_use_color_none_did_you_mean_none));
+	else
+	    semsg(_(e_cannot_allocate_color_str), name);
+    }
     return t;
 }
 
diff --git a/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim b/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
index 26426e0..feccf84 100644
--- a/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
+++ b/src/testdir/test_highlight.vim
@@ -46,6 +46,10 @@
   call assert_equal("Group3         xxx cleared",
 				\ split(execute("hi Group3"), "\n")[0])
   call assert_fails("hi Crash term='asdf", "E475:")
+
+  if has('gui_running')
+    call assert_fails('hi NotUsed guibg=none', 'E1361:')
+  endif
 endfunc
 
 func HighlightArgs(name)
diff --git a/src/version.c b/src/version.c
index f8b75d7..41726ea 100644
--- a/src/version.c
+++ b/src/version.c
@@ -696,6 +696,8 @@
 static int included_patches[] =
 {   /* Add new patch number below this line */
 /**/
+    1328,
+/**/
     1327,
 /**/
     1326,