diff --git a/core/java/android/app/SuggestionsAdapter.java b/core/java/android/app/SuggestionsAdapter.java
index 8c5cee3e01091..ed76f4e5c693b 100644
--- a/core/java/android/app/SuggestionsAdapter.java
+++ b/core/java/android/app/SuggestionsAdapter.java
@@ -68,9 +68,6 @@ class SuggestionsAdapter extends ResourceCursorAdapter {
     private int mIconName2Col;
     private int mBackgroundColorCol;
 
-    // Cached item background color.
-    private int mDefaultBackgroundColor;
-
     // This value is stored in SuggestionsAdapter by the SearchDialog to indicate whether
     // a particular list item should be selected upon the next call to notifyDataSetChanged.
     // This is used to indicate the index of the "More results..." list item so that when
@@ -102,11 +99,6 @@ class SuggestionsAdapter extends ResourceCursorAdapter {
         Context activityContext = mSearchable.getActivityContext(mContext);
         mProviderContext = mSearchable.getProviderContext(mContext, activityContext);
 
-        TypedValue colorValue = new TypedValue();
-        mProviderContext.getTheme().resolveAttribute(
-                com.android.internal.R.attr.searchWidgetItemBackground, colorValue, true);
-        mDefaultBackgroundColor = mProviderContext.getResources().getColor(colorValue.resourceId);
-
         mOutsideDrawablesCache = outsideDrawablesCache;
         mGlobalSearchMode = globalSearchMode;
 
@@ -303,9 +295,6 @@ class SuggestionsAdapter extends ResourceCursorAdapter {
         if (mBackgroundColorCol != -1) {
             backgroundColor = cursor.getInt(mBackgroundColorCol);
         }
-        if (backgroundColor == 0) {
-            backgroundColor = mDefaultBackgroundColor;
-        }
         ((SuggestionItemView)view).setColor(backgroundColor);
 
         final boolean isHtml = mFormatCol > 0 && "html".equals(cursor.getString(mFormatCol));
@@ -524,6 +513,7 @@ class SuggestionsAdapter extends ResourceCursorAdapter {
         protected SuggestionItemView(Context context, Cursor cursor) {
             // Initialize ourselves
             super(context);
+            mBackgroundColor = 0;  // transparent by default.
 
             // For our layout use the default list item height from the current theme.
             TypedValue lineHeight = new TypedValue();
@@ -551,7 +541,7 @@ class SuggestionsAdapter extends ResourceCursorAdapter {
 
         @Override
         public void dispatchDraw(Canvas canvas) {
-            if (!isPressed()) {
+            if (mBackgroundColor != 0 && !isPressed() && !isSelected()) {
                 canvas.drawColor(mBackgroundColor);
             }
             super.dispatchDraw(canvas);
diff --git a/core/res/res/values/attrs.xml b/core/res/res/values/attrs.xml
index c6ad5ec4c88f5..d223828c74005 100644
--- a/core/res/res/values/attrs.xml
+++ b/core/res/res/values/attrs.xml
@@ -82,9 +82,7 @@
 
         <!-- Text color for urls in search suggestions, used by things like global search and the browser. @hide -->
         <attr name="textColorSearchUrl" format="reference|color" />
-        <!-- Search widget result item background. -->
-        <attr name="searchWidgetItemBackground" format="reference|color" />
-        <!-- Search widget expandable result item background. -->
+        <!-- Search widget more corpus result item background. -->
         <attr name="searchWidgetCorpusItemBackground" format="reference|color" />
 
         <!-- Text color, typeface, size, and style for "large" text. Defaults to primary text color. -->
diff --git a/core/res/res/values/colors.xml b/core/res/res/values/colors.xml
index 29d8f73db88a3..d284d0f444989 100644
--- a/core/res/res/values/colors.xml
+++ b/core/res/res/values/colors.xml
@@ -75,7 +75,6 @@
     
     <!-- For search-related UIs -->
     <color name="search_url_text">#7fa87f</color>
-    <color name="search_widget_item_background">@android:color/white</color>
     <color name="search_widget_corpus_item_background">@android:color/lighter_gray</color>
 
 </resources>
diff --git a/core/res/res/values/themes.xml b/core/res/res/values/themes.xml
index 0641021530293..f37d514e6e1d2 100644
--- a/core/res/res/values/themes.xml
+++ b/core/res/res/values/themes.xml
@@ -185,7 +185,6 @@
         <item name="preferenceLayoutChild">@android:layout/preference_child</item>
 
         <!-- Search widget styles -->
-        <item name="searchWidgetItemBackground">@android:color/search_widget_item_background</item>
         <item name="searchWidgetCorpusItemBackground">@android:color/search_widget_corpus_item_background</item>
     </style>