diff --git a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgscategorizedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgscategorizedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
index 9348110c9f0..8ae06ff7238 100644
--- a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgscategorizedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgscategorizedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
@@ -1029,7 +1029,11 @@ void QgsCategorizedSymbolRendererV2Widget::updateSymbolsFromWidget()
       Q_FOREACH ( int idx, selectedCats )
       {
         QgsSymbolV2* newCatSymbol = mCategorizedSymbol->clone();
-        newCatSymbol->setColor( mRenderer->categories().at( idx ).symbol()->color() );
+        if ( selectedCats.count() > 1 )
+        {
+          //if updating multiple categories, retain the existing category colors
+          newCatSymbol->setColor( mRenderer->categories().at( idx ).symbol()->color() );
+        }
         mRenderer->updateCategorySymbol( idx, newCatSymbol );
       }
       emit widgetChanged();
diff --git a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgsgraduatedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgsgraduatedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
index 9e91d43e2f2..943568ab621 100644
--- a/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgsgraduatedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/symbology-ng/qgsgraduatedsymbolrendererv2widget.cpp
@@ -717,7 +717,11 @@ void QgsGraduatedSymbolRendererV2Widget::updateSymbolsFromWidget()
       {
         int rangeIdx = idx.row();
         QgsSymbolV2* newRangeSymbol = mGraduatedSymbol->clone();
-        newRangeSymbol->setColor( mRenderer->ranges()[rangeIdx].symbol()->color() );
+        if ( selectedIndexes.count() > 1 )
+        {
+          //if updating multiple ranges, retain the existing range colors
+          newRangeSymbol->setColor( mRenderer->ranges().at( rangeIdx ).symbol()->color() );
+        }
         mRenderer->updateRangeSymbol( rangeIdx, newRangeSymbol );
       }
     }