diff --git a/R/class-chart-sheet.R b/R/class-chart-sheet.R
index a5dad9350..f3340e2e0 100644
--- a/R/class-chart-sheet.R
+++ b/R/class-chart-sheet.R
@@ -51,11 +51,13 @@ wbChartSheet <- R6::R6Class(
 
     #' @description
     #' Create a new workbook chart sheet object
-    #' @param tabColor `character` a tab color to set
+    #' @param tab_color tabColor
     #' @return The `wbChartSheet` object
-    initialize = function(tabColor = tabColor) {
-      if (length(tabColor)) {
-        tabColor <- sprintf('<sheetPr><tabColor rgb="%s"/></sheetPr>', tabColor)
+    initialize = function(tab_color = NULL) {
+
+      if (!is.null(tab_color)) {
+        tab_color <- xml_node_create("tabColor", xml_attributes = tab_color)
+        tabColor <- sprintf('<sheetPr>%s</sheetPr>', tab_color)
       } else {
         tabColor <- character()
       }
diff --git a/R/class-workbook.R b/R/class-workbook.R
index 0bde6aa40..6dcd68c63 100644
--- a/R/class-workbook.R
+++ b/R/class-workbook.R
@@ -427,12 +427,11 @@ wbWorkbook <- R6::R6Class(
 
       standardize(...)
 
-      if (!is.null(tab_color)) {
-        if (is_wbColour(tab_color)) {
-          tab_color <- as.character(tab_color)
-        } else {
-          tab_color <- validate_color(tab_color, msg = "Invalid tab_color in add_chartsheet.")
-        }
+      if (!is.null(tab_color) && !is_wbColour(tab_color)) {
+        validate_color(tab_color, msg = "Invalid tab_color in add_chartsheet.")
+        tabColor <- wb_color(tab_color)
+      } else {
+        tabColor <- tab_color
       }
 
       if (!is.numeric(zoom)) {
@@ -450,7 +449,7 @@ wbWorkbook <- R6::R6Class(
 
       self$append("worksheets",
         wbChartSheet$new(
-          tabColor = tab_color
+          tab_color = tabColor
         )
       )
 
@@ -580,12 +579,11 @@ wbWorkbook <- R6::R6Class(
         msg <- c(msg, "grid_lines must be a logical of length 1.")
       }
 
-      if (!is.null(tab_color)) {
-        if (is_wbColour(tab_color)) {
-          tabColor <- as.character(tab_color)
-        } else {
-          tabColor <- validate_color(tab_color, msg = "Invalid tab_color in add_worksheet.")
-        }
+      if (!is.null(tab_color) && !is_wbColour(tab_color)) {
+        validate_color(tab_color, msg = "Invalid tab_color in add_worksheet.")
+        tabColor <- wb_color(tab_color)
+      } else {
+        tabColor <- tab_color
       }
 
       if (!is.numeric(zoom)) {
@@ -684,7 +682,7 @@ wbWorkbook <- R6::R6Class(
       ## append to worksheets list
       self$append("worksheets",
         wbWorksheet$new(
-          tab_color    = tab_color,
+          tab_color    = tabColor,
           odd_header   = odd_header,
           odd_footer   = odd_footer,
           even_header  = even_header,
diff --git a/R/class-worksheet.R b/R/class-worksheet.R
index ce9915546..7ab3a2d3a 100644
--- a/R/class-worksheet.R
+++ b/R/class-worksheet.R
@@ -173,7 +173,8 @@ wbWorksheet <- R6::R6Class(
       standardize_case_names(...)
 
       if (!is.null(tab_color)) {
-        tabColor <- sprintf('<sheetPr><tabColor rgb="%s"/></sheetPr>', tab_color)
+        tab_color <- xml_node_create("tabColor", xml_attributes = tab_color)
+        tabColor <- sprintf('<sheetPr>%s</sheetPr>', tab_color)
       } else {
         tabColor <- character()
       }
diff --git a/man/wbChartSheet.Rd b/man/wbChartSheet.Rd
index 5784c43c5..1a83a825a 100644
--- a/man/wbChartSheet.Rd
+++ b/man/wbChartSheet.Rd
@@ -55,13 +55,13 @@ hyperlinks = NULL,}
 \subsection{Method \code{new()}}{
 Create a new workbook chart sheet object
 \subsection{Usage}{
-\if{html}{\out{<div class="r">}}\preformatted{wbChartSheet$new(tabColor = tabColor)}\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
+\if{html}{\out{<div class="r">}}\preformatted{wbChartSheet$new(tab_color = NULL)}\if{html}{\out{</div>}}
 }
 
 \subsection{Arguments}{
 \if{html}{\out{<div class="arguments">}}
 \describe{
-\item{\code{tabColor}}{\code{character} a tab color to set}
+\item{\code{tab_color}}{tabColor}
 }
 \if{html}{\out{</div>}}
 }
diff --git a/tests/testthat/test-class-worksheet.R b/tests/testthat/test-class-worksheet.R
index 4f661f0c4..aab529689 100644
--- a/tests/testthat/test-class-worksheet.R
+++ b/tests/testthat/test-class-worksheet.R
@@ -130,3 +130,49 @@ test_that("ignore_error works", {
   expect_equal(exp, got)
 
 })
+
+test_that("tab_color works", {
+
+  # worksheet
+  wb <- wb_workbook()$
+    add_worksheet(tab_color = "red")$
+    add_worksheet(tab_color = wb_color("red"))
+
+  expect_equal(
+    wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheetPr,
+    wb$worksheets[[2]]$sheetPr
+  )
+
+  # chartsheet
+  wb <- wb_workbook()$
+    add_chartsheet(tab_color = "red")$
+    add_chartsheet(tab_color = wb_color("red"))
+
+  expect_equal(
+    wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheetPr,
+    wb$worksheets[[2]]$sheetPr
+  )
+
+  # use color theme
+  wb <- wb_workbook()$
+    add_worksheet(tab_color = wb_color(theme = 4))$
+    add_chartsheet(tab_color = wb_color(theme = 4))
+
+  expect_equal(
+    wb$worksheets[[1]]$sheetPr,
+    wb$worksheets[[2]]$sheetPr
+  )
+
+  # error with invalid tab_color. blau is German for blue.
+  expect_error(
+    wb <- wb_workbook()$
+      add_worksheet(tab_color = "blau"),
+    "Invalid tab_color in add_worksheet"
+  )
+  expect_error(
+    wb <- wb_workbook()$
+      add_chartsheet(tab_color = "blau"),
+    "Invalid tab_color in add_chartsheet"
+  )
+
+})