diff --git a/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/config/TextDisplayMetaConfiguration.java b/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/config/TextDisplayMetaConfiguration.java
index 3585217..ef636d6 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/config/TextDisplayMetaConfiguration.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/config/TextDisplayMetaConfiguration.java
@@ -54,15 +54,24 @@ public static void applyMeta(@NotNull ConfigurationSection section, @NotNull Tex
             } else if (NamedTextColor.NAMES.value(backgroundColor) != null) {
                 background = 0x40000000 | Objects.requireNonNull(NamedTextColor.NAMES.value(backgroundColor)).value();
             } else if (backgroundColor.startsWith("#")) {
-                int intValue = Integer.parseInt(backgroundColor.replace("#", ""), 16);
-                Color color = Color.fromARGB(intValue);
-
-                // Set a default alpha of 0x40 (minecraft's internal default)
-                if (color.getAlpha() == 0 && !backgroundColor.startsWith("#00")) {
-                    background = color.setAlpha(0x40).asARGB();
+                String hex = backgroundColor.replace("#", "");
+
+                int rgb;
+                int a;
+                if (hex.length() == 6) {
+                    rgb = Integer.parseInt(hex, 16);
+                    // Set a default alpha of 0x40 (minecraft's internal default)
+                    a = 0x40;
+                } else if (hex.length() == 8) {
+                    rgb = Integer.parseInt(hex.substring(2), 16);
+                    a = Integer.parseInt(hex.substring(0, 2), 16);
                 } else {
-                    background = color.asARGB();
+                    throw new RuntimeException(String.format("Invalid hex string '#%s'!", hex));
                 }
+
+                Color color = Color.fromARGB(rgb).setAlpha(a);
+
+                background = color.asARGB();
             } else {
                 background = NameTags.TRANSPARENT;
             }
diff --git a/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/entity/trait/SneakTrait.java b/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/entity/trait/SneakTrait.java
index 7f38a15..3a18f65 100644
--- a/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/entity/trait/SneakTrait.java
+++ b/src/main/java/com/mattmx/nametags/entity/trait/SneakTrait.java
@@ -24,12 +24,6 @@ public void updateSneak(boolean sneaking) {
             Color color = Color.fromARGB(meta.getBackgroundColor());
 
             if (sneaking) {
-
-                // If it's transparent then we shouldn't do anything really
-                if (color.getAlpha() == 0) {
-                    return;
-                }
-
                 previousBackgroundOpacity = color.getAlpha();
                 previousTextOpacity = meta.getTextOpacity();
 
@@ -45,6 +39,10 @@ public void updateSneak(boolean sneaking) {
     }
 
     public Color withCustomSneakOpacity(@NotNull Color previous) {
+        if (previous.getAlpha() == 0) {
+            return previous;
+        }
+
         return previous.setAlpha(getCustomOpacity());
     }