diff --git a/src/iomanip.cpp b/src/iomanip.cpp
index b403bbe..652ac4e 100644
--- a/src/iomanip.cpp
+++ b/src/iomanip.cpp
@@ -25,9 +25,7 @@ static std::ostream& rgb(std::ostream& out, int r, int g, int b, int code) {
 }
 
 bool sc::io::should_color(const std::ostream& out) {
-    char* no_color_env {getenv("NO_COLOR")};
-    std::string no_color {no_color_env ? no_color_env : ""};
-    return no_color != "1" && isatty_ostream(out);
+    return !getenv("NO_COLOR") && isatty_ostream(out);
 }
 
 bool sc::io::isatty_ostream(const std::ostream& out) {