diff --git a/FlowCal/mef.py b/FlowCal/mef.py
index 1a1e49a..63761ff 100644
--- a/FlowCal/mef.py
+++ b/FlowCal/mef.py
@@ -24,14 +24,7 @@
 import FlowCal.transform
 import FlowCal.stats
 
-# Use default colors from palettable if available
-try:
-    import palettable
-except ImportError as e:
-    standard_curve_colors = ['b', 'g', 'r']
-else:
-    standard_curve_colors = \
-        palettable.colorbrewer.qualitative.Paired_12.mpl_colors[1::2]
+standard_curve_colors = ['tab:blue', 'tab:green', 'tab:red']
 
 def clustering_gmm(data,
                    n_clusters,
diff --git a/FlowCal/plot.py b/FlowCal/plot.py
index ada8bb7..5698ca0 100644
--- a/FlowCal/plot.py
+++ b/FlowCal/plot.py
@@ -58,13 +58,7 @@
 from matplotlib.font_manager import FontProperties
 import warnings
 
-# Use default colors from palettable if available
-try:
-    import palettable
-except ImportError as e:
-    cmap_default = plt.get_cmap(matplotlib.rcParams['image.cmap'])
-else:
-    cmap_default = palettable.colorbrewer.diverging.Spectral_8_r.mpl_colormap
+cmap_default = plt.get_cmap('Spectral_r')
 
 savefig_dpi = 250
 
@@ -1786,7 +1780,8 @@ def density_and_hist(data,
 
     # Colors
     n_colors = n_plots - 1
-    colors = [cmap_default(i) for i in np.linspace(0, 1, n_colors)]
+    default_property_cycler = plt.rcParams['axes.prop_cycle']()
+    colors = [next(default_property_cycler)['color'] for i in range(n_colors)]
     # Histogram
     for i, hist_channel in enumerate(hist_channels):
         # Define subplot
diff --git a/doc/getting_started/install_python.rst b/doc/getting_started/install_python.rst
index dcc7d2a..724bbf8 100644
--- a/doc/getting_started/install_python.rst
+++ b/doc/getting_started/install_python.rst
@@ -14,7 +14,6 @@ Alternatively, download ``FlowCal`` from `here <https://github.com/taborlab/Flow
 * ``numpy`` (>=1.8.2)
 * ``scipy`` (>=0.14.0)
 * ``matplotlib`` (>=2.0.0)
-* ``palettable`` (>=2.1.1)
 * ``scikit-image`` (>=0.10.0)
 * ``scikit-learn`` (>=0.16.0)
 * ``pandas`` (>=0.16.1)
@@ -52,4 +51,4 @@ Again, some users may need to precede the previous commands with ``sudo``.
 
 		sudo pip install --upgrade pip
 
-	After this, you may install ``FlowCal`` by following the steps above.
\ No newline at end of file
+	After this, you may install ``FlowCal`` by following the steps above.
diff --git a/requirements.txt b/requirements.txt
index f23e2e7..1bfd881 100644
--- a/requirements.txt
+++ b/requirements.txt
@@ -3,7 +3,6 @@ six>=1.10.0
 numpy>=1.8.2
 scipy>=0.14.0
 matplotlib>=2.0.0
-palettable>=2.1.1
 scikit-image>=0.10.0
 scikit-learn>=0.16.0
 pandas>=0.16.1
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 6d84cd1..207a0d5 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -90,7 +90,6 @@ def find_version(file_path):
                       'numpy>=1.8.2',
                       'scipy>=0.14.0',
                       'matplotlib>=2.0.0',
-                      'palettable>=2.1.1',
                       'scikit-image>=0.10.0',
                       'scikit-learn>=0.16.0',
                       'pandas>=0.16.1',