diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.scss b/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.scss
index 33293a6d7a..afdd917494 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.scss
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.scss
@@ -9,16 +9,6 @@
   height: var(--font-size);
   position: absolute;
   z-index: 20;
-
-  &.front {
-    left: 0px;
-    background: linear-gradient(to right, var(--contentColor) 0px, transparent);
-  }
-
-  &.back {
-    right: 0px;
-    background: linear-gradient(to left, var(--contentColor) 0px, transparent);
-  }
 }
 
 .NamespaceSelect {
diff --git a/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.tsx b/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.tsx
index d398f91f0a..fd523ef34d 100644
--- a/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.tsx
+++ b/src/renderer/components/+namespaces/namespace-select.tsx
@@ -1,14 +1,19 @@
 import "./namespace-select.scss";
 
-import React from "react";
-import { computed } from "mobx";
+import Color from "color";
+import { computed, observable } from "mobx";
 import { disposeOnUnmount, observer } from "mobx-react";
-import { Select, SelectOption, SelectProps } from "../select";
-import { cssNames } from "../../utils";
-import { Icon } from "../icon";
-import { namespaceStore } from "./namespace.store";
+import React from "react";
+import { findDOMNode } from "react-dom";
+import { components, SelectComponentsConfig, ValueContainerProps } from "react-select";
+
 import { kubeWatchApi } from "../../api/kube-watch-api";
-import { components, ValueContainerProps } from "react-select";
+import { ThemeStore } from "../../theme.store";
+import { cssNames } from "../../utils";
+import { computeStackingColor } from "../../utils/color";
+import { Icon } from "../icon";
+import { Select, SelectOption, SelectProps } from "../select";
+import { namespaceStore } from "./namespace.store";
 
 interface Props extends SelectProps {
   showIcons?: boolean;
@@ -19,35 +24,70 @@ interface Props extends SelectProps {
 
 const defaultProps: Partial<Props> = {
   showIcons: true,
-  showClusterOption: false,
+  components: {},
+  customizeOptions: (options) => options,
 };
 
-function GradientValueContainer<T>({children, ...rest}: ValueContainerProps<T>) {
-  return (
-    <components.ValueContainer {...rest}>
-      <div className="GradientValueContainer front" />
-      {children}
-      <div className="GradientValueContainer back" />
-    </components.ValueContainer>
-  );
+function getGVCStyle(position: "front" | "back", backgroundColor: Color): React.CSSProperties {
+  const placement = position === "front" ? "left" : "right";
+  const direction = position === "front" ? "to right" : "to left";
+
+  return {
+    [placement]: "0px",
+    background: `linear-gradient(${direction}, ${backgroundColor.rgb().toString()} 0px, transparent)`,
+  };
+}
+
+function getGVC<T>(trueBackgroundColour: Color): React.FunctionComponent {
+  return function ({children, ...rest}: ValueContainerProps<T>) {
+    return (
+      <components.ValueContainer {...rest}>
+        <div className="GradientValueContainer" style={getGVCStyle("front", trueBackgroundColour)} />
+        {children}
+        <div className="GradientValueContainer" style={getGVCStyle("back", trueBackgroundColour)} />
+      </components.ValueContainer>
+    );
+  };
 }
 
 @observer
 export class NamespaceSelect extends React.Component<Props> {
   static defaultProps = defaultProps as object;
+  @observable ValueContainer?: React.ComponentClass<ValueContainerProps<any>> | React.FunctionComponent;
 
   componentDidMount() {
+    // eslint-disable-next-line react/no-find-dom-node
+    const elem = findDOMNode(this) as HTMLElement;
+
+    this.ValueContainer = getGVC(computeStackingColor(elem, "backgroundColor"));
+
     disposeOnUnmount(this, [
       kubeWatchApi.subscribeStores([namespaceStore], {
         preload: true,
         loadOnce: true, // skip reloading namespaces on every render / page visit
-      })
+      }),
+      ThemeStore.getInstance().onThemeApplied(() => {
+        this.ValueContainer = getGVC(computeStackingColor(elem, "backgroundColor"));
+      }),
     ]);
   }
 
+  @computed get components(): SelectComponentsConfig<SelectOption> {
+    if (!this.ValueContainer) {
+      return this.props.components;
+    }
+
+    const { components: { ValueContainer, ...components } } = this.props;
+
+    return {
+      ...components,
+      ValueContainer: this.ValueContainer,
+    };
+  }
+
   @computed.struct get options(): SelectOption[] {
     const { customizeOptions, showClusterOption, showAllNamespacesOption } = this.props;
-    let options: SelectOption[] = namespaceStore.items.map(ns => ({ value: ns.getName() }));
+    const options: SelectOption[] = namespaceStore.items.map(ns => ({ value: ns.getName() }));
 
     if (showAllNamespacesOption) {
       options.unshift({ label: "All Namespaces", value: "" });
@@ -55,11 +95,7 @@ export class NamespaceSelect extends React.Component<Props> {
       options.unshift({ label: "Cluster", value: "" });
     }
 
-    if (customizeOptions) {
-      options = customizeOptions(options);
-    }
-
-    return options;
+    return customizeOptions(options);
   }
 
   formatOptionLabel = (option: SelectOption) => {
@@ -75,9 +111,7 @@ export class NamespaceSelect extends React.Component<Props> {
   };
 
   render() {
-    const { className, showIcons, customizeOptions, components = {}, ...selectProps } = this.props;
-
-    components.ValueContainer ??= GradientValueContainer;
+    const { className, showIcons, customizeOptions, components, ...selectProps } = this.props;
 
     return (
       <Select
@@ -85,7 +119,7 @@ export class NamespaceSelect extends React.Component<Props> {
         menuClass="NamespaceSelectMenu"
         formatOptionLabel={this.formatOptionLabel}
         options={this.options}
-        components={components}
+        components={this.components}
         {...selectProps}
       />
     );
diff --git a/src/renderer/theme.store.ts b/src/renderer/theme.store.ts
index 07b663a5cc..03b511d5dd 100644
--- a/src/renderer/theme.store.ts
+++ b/src/renderer/theme.store.ts
@@ -1,7 +1,8 @@
 import { computed, observable, reaction } from "mobx";
-import { autobind, Singleton } from "./utils";
+
 import { UserStore } from "../common/user-store";
 import logger from "../main/logger";
+import { autobind, Disposer, disposer, EventEmitter, Singleton } from "./utils";
 
 export type ThemeId = string;
 
@@ -50,6 +51,8 @@ export class ThemeStore extends Singleton {
     };
   }
 
+  private themeApplied = new EventEmitter<[]>();
+
   constructor() {
     super();
 
@@ -61,6 +64,7 @@ export class ThemeStore extends Singleton {
         logger.error(err);
         UserStore.getInstance().resetTheme();
       }
+      this.themeApplied.emit();
     }, {
       fireImmediately: true,
     });
@@ -71,6 +75,12 @@ export class ThemeStore extends Singleton {
     await Promise.all(this.themeIds.map(this.loadTheme));
   }
 
+  public onThemeApplied(handler: () => void): Disposer {
+    this.themeApplied.addListener(handler);
+
+    return disposer(() => this.themeApplied.removeListener(handler));
+  }
+
   getThemeById(themeId: ThemeId): Theme {
     return this.allThemes.get(themeId);
   }
diff --git a/src/renderer/utils/__tests__/color.test.ts b/src/renderer/utils/__tests__/color.test.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..eff4fdc385
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/utils/__tests__/color.test.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+import Color from "color";
+
+import { blend } from "../color";
+
+describe("color tests", () => {
+  describe("blend", () => {
+    it("should return parent if child has alpha = 0", () => {
+      expect(blend(Color("rgba(10, 20, 30, 1)"), Color("rgba(11, 21, 31, 0)")).toString()).toBe("rgb(10, 20, 30)");
+    });
+
+    it("should return child if child has alpha = 1", () => {
+      expect(blend(Color("rgba(1, 2, 3, 1)"), Color("rgba(10, 20, 30, 1)")).toString()).toBe("rgb(10, 20, 30)");
+    });
+  });
+});
diff --git a/src/renderer/utils/color.ts b/src/renderer/utils/color.ts
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..cd9eb4f748
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/renderer/utils/color.ts
@@ -0,0 +1,46 @@
+import Color from "color";
+
+/**
+ * Some notes:
+ * - CSS colours use straight alpha channels:
+ *    - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpha_compositing
+ *    - https://stackoverflow.com/a/45526785/5615967
+ * - The `getComputedStyles` function does not do this already
+ */
+
+/**
+ * Compute the "actual" color at an element by walking up the tree while
+ * @param elem The root element to up the DOM from
+ * @param field Which computedStyle field to work against
+ */
+export function computeStackingColor(elem: HTMLElement | undefined, field: "color" | "backgroundColor"): Color {
+  if (!elem) {
+    return Color.rgb(0, 0, 0).alpha(0);
+  }
+
+  const curColor = Color(window.getComputedStyle(elem)[field]);
+
+  if (curColor.alpha() === 1) {
+    return curColor;
+  }
+
+  return blend(computeStackingColor(elem.parentElement, field), curColor);
+}
+
+/**
+ * Blends the two colors where the parent color is place beneath the child color.
+ * And the returned color is what the browser would render.
+ *
+ * The parent color is placed beneath because child elements are rendered "above"
+ * their DOM parents.
+ * @param parent The color that is from the parent element
+ * @param child The color that is from the child element
+ */
+export function blend(parent: Color, child: Color): Color {
+  const alpha = (1 - child.alpha()) * parent.alpha() + child.alpha();
+  const red = ((1 - child.alpha()) * parent.alpha() * parent.red() + child.alpha() * child.red()) / alpha;
+  const green = ((1 - child.alpha()) * parent.alpha() * parent.green() + child.alpha() * child.green()) / alpha;
+  const blue = ((1 - child.alpha()) * parent.alpha() * parent.blue() + child.alpha() * child.blue()) / alpha;
+
+  return Color.rgb(red, green, blue).alpha(alpha);
+}