diff --git a/piker/ui/_chart.py b/piker/ui/_chart.py
index 14921b3d..67120f5e 100644
--- a/piker/ui/_chart.py
+++ b/piker/ui/_chart.py
@@ -1231,7 +1231,8 @@ class ChartPlotWidget(pg.PlotWidget):
                 # (we need something that avoids clutter on x-axis).
                 axis.add_sticky(
                     pi=pi,
-                    bg_color=color,
+                    fg_color='black',
+                    # bg_color=color,
                     digits=digits,
                 )