diff --git a/gnu/system/shadow.scm b/gnu/system/shadow.scm
index 28d399f2b164e4c51f2283af7085ff768503545f..b4db69f06828078ac38f5063e1983b62195f2984 100644
--- a/gnu/system/shadow.scm
+++ b/gnu/system/shadow.scm
@@ -178,9 +178,9 @@ (define copy-guile-wm
 else
     PS1='\\u@\\h \\w\\$ '
 fi
-alias ls='ls -p --color'
+alias ls='ls -p --color=auto'
 alias ll='ls -l'
-alias grep='grep --color'\n"))
+alias grep='grep --color=auto'\n"))
         (zlogin    (plain-file "zlogin" "\
 # Honor system-wide environment variables
 source /etc/profile\n"))