diff --git a/src/xfaces.c b/src/xfaces.c
index cf155288bd..308509a026 100644
--- a/src/xfaces.c
+++ b/src/xfaces.c
@@ -220,6 +220,7 @@ Copyright (C) 1993-1994, 1998-2020 Free Software Foundation, Inc.
 #include "sysstdio.h"
 #include <sys/types.h>
 #include <sys/stat.h>
+#include <math.h>
 
 #include "lisp.h"
 #include "character.h"
@@ -819,6 +820,120 @@ load_pixmap (struct frame *f, Lisp_Object name)
                             Color Handling
  ***********************************************************************/
 
+/* Parse hex color component at S ending right before E.
+   Set *DST to the value normalized so that the maximum for the
+   number of digits given becomes 65535, and return true on success,
+   false otherwise.  */
+static bool
+parse_hex_color_comp (const char *s, const char *e, unsigned short *dst)
+{
+  int n = e - s;
+  if (n <= 0 || n > 4)
+    return false;
+  int val = 0;
+  for (; s < e; s++)
+    {
+      int digit;
+      if (*s >= '0' && *s <= '9')
+        digit = *s - '0';
+      else if (*s >= 'A' && *s <= 'F')
+        digit = *s - 'A' + 10;
+      else if (*s >= 'a' && *s <= 'f')
+        digit = *s - 'a' + 10;
+      else
+        return false;
+      val = (val << 4) | digit;
+    }
+  int maxval = (1 << (n * 4)) - 1;
+  *dst = (unsigned)val * 65535 / maxval;
+  return true;
+}
+
+/* Parse floating-point color component at S ending right before E.
+   Return the number if in the range [0,1]; otherwise -1.  */
+static double
+parse_float_color_comp (const char *s, const char *e)
+{
+  char *end;
+  double x = strtod (s, &end);
+  return (end == e && x >= 0 && x <= 1) ? x : -1;
+}
+
+/* Parse S as a numeric color specification and set *R, *G and *B.
+   Return true on success, false on failure.
+   Recognized formats:
+
+    "#RGB", with R, G and B hex strings of equal length, 1-4 digits each
+    "rgb:R/G/B", with R, G and B hex strings, 1-4 digits each
+    "rgbi:R/G/B", with R, G and B numbers in [0,1]
+
+   The result is normalized to a maximum value of 65535 per component.  */
+bool
+parse_color_spec (const char *s,
+                  unsigned short *r, unsigned short *g, unsigned short *b)
+{
+  int len = strlen (s);
+  if (s[0] == '#')
+    {
+      if ((len - 1) % 3 == 0)
+        {
+          int n = (len - 1) / 3;
+          return (   parse_hex_color_comp (s + 1 + 0 * n, s + 1 + 1 * n, r)
+                  && parse_hex_color_comp (s + 1 + 1 * n, s + 1 + 2 * n, g)
+                  && parse_hex_color_comp (s + 1 + 2 * n, s + 1 + 3 * n, b));
+        }
+    }
+  else if (strncmp (s, "rgb:", 4) == 0)
+    {
+      char *sep1, *sep2;
+      return ((sep1 = strchr (s + 4, '/')) != NULL
+              && (sep2 = strchr (sep1 + 1, '/')) != NULL
+              && parse_hex_color_comp (s + 4, sep1, r)
+              && parse_hex_color_comp (sep1 + 1, sep2, g)
+              && parse_hex_color_comp (sep2 + 1, s + len, b));
+    }
+  else if (strncmp (s, "rgbi:", 5) == 0)
+    {
+      char *sep1, *sep2;
+      double red, green, blue;
+      if ((sep1 = strchr (s + 5, '/')) != NULL
+          && (sep2 = strchr (sep1 + 1, '/')) != NULL
+          && (red = parse_float_color_comp (s + 5, sep1)) >= 0
+          && (green = parse_float_color_comp (sep1 + 1, sep2)) >= 0
+          && (blue = parse_float_color_comp (sep2 + 1, s + len)) >= 0)
+        {
+          *r = lrint (red * 65535);
+          *g = lrint (green * 65535);
+          *b = lrint (blue * 65535);
+          return true;
+        }
+    }
+  return false;
+}
+
+DEFUN ("internal-color-values-from-color-spec",
+       Finternal_color_values_from_color_spec,
+       Sinternal_color_values_from_color_spec,
+       1, 1, 0,
+       doc: /* Parse STRING as a numeric color and return (RED GREEN BLUE).
+Recognised formats for STRING are:
+
+ #RGB, where R, G and B are hex numbers of equal length, 1-4 digits each
+ rgb:R/G/B, where R, G, and B are hex numbers, 1-4 digits each
+ rgbi:R/G/B, where R, G and B are floating-point numbers in [0,1]
+
+The result is normalized to a maximum value of 65535 per component,
+forming a list of three integers in [0,65535].
+If STRING is not in one of the above forms, return nil.  */)
+  (Lisp_Object string)
+{
+  CHECK_STRING (string);
+  unsigned short r, g, b;
+  return (parse_color_spec (SSDATA (string), &r, &g, &b)
+          ? list3i (r, g, b)
+          : Qnil);
+}
+
 /* Parse RGB_LIST, and fill in the RGB fields of COLOR.
    RGB_LIST should contain (at least) 3 lisp integers.
    Return true iff RGB_LIST is OK.  */
@@ -7018,4 +7133,5 @@ syms_of_xfaces (void)
   defsubr (&Sinternal_face_x_get_resource);
   defsubr (&Sx_family_fonts);
 #endif
+  defsubr (&Sinternal_color_values_from_color_spec);
 }