diff --git a/core/js/placeholder.js b/core/js/placeholder.js
index 26eb3507d7..5fb5b5b8f8 100644
--- a/core/js/placeholder.js
+++ b/core/js/placeholder.js
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@
 		// set optional argument "text" to value of "seed" if undefined
 		text = text || seed;
 
-		var hash = md5(seed),
-			maxRange = parseInt('ffffffffffffffffffffffffffffffff', 16),
+		var hash = md5(seed).substring(0, 4),
+			maxRange = parseInt('ffff', 16),
 			hue = parseInt(hash, 16) / maxRange * 256,
 			height = this.height() || size || 32;
 		this.css('background-color', 'hsl(' + hue + ', 90%, 65%)');