diff --git a/bash-completion/detoul b/bash-completion/detoul
index 75794f7..41fb5ec 100644
--- a/bash-completion/detoul
+++ b/bash-completion/detoul
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@ _detoul() {
   local line="${COMP_LINE}"
   
   if (echo "$line" | grep -q "^[[:graph:]]\+\s\+edit\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s"); then
-    _script_commands=$(detoul options "$(echo "$line" | sed -e 's/^[[:graph:]]\+\s\+\([[:graph:]]\+\).*/\1/')")
+    _script_commands=$(detoul options "$(echo "$line" | sed -E 's/^[[:graph:]]+\s+([[:graph:]]+).*/\1/')")
   elif (echo "$line" | grep -q "^[[:graph:]]\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s"); then
-    _script_commands=$(detoul options "$(echo "$line" | sed -e 's/^[[:graph:]]\+\s\+\([[:graph:]]\+\).*/\1/')")
+    _script_commands=$(detoul options "$(echo "$line" | sed -E 's/^[[:graph:]]+\s+([[:graph:]]+).*/\1/')")
   elif (echo "$line" | grep -q "^[[:graph:]]\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s"); then
-    _script_commands=$((git tag; git branch -a | grep -v "\->" | sed -e 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]\+\///g' | cut -c3- | sort | uniq | grep -v "^detoul-spec$") | xargs)
+    _script_commands=$((git tag; git branch -a | grep -v "\->" | sed -E 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]+\///g' | cut -c3- | sort | uniq | grep -v "^detoul-spec$") | xargs)
   elif [ "$(echo "$line" | wc -w)" == "1" ]; then
     _script_commands=$(detoul commands)
   elif ([ "$(echo "$line" | wc -w)" == "2" ] && ! (echo "$line" | grep -q "\s$")); then
diff --git a/detoul b/detoul
index 6142742..534b8fd 100755
--- a/detoul
+++ b/detoul
@@ -1,5 +1,9 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+COLOR_RED="$(tput setaf 1)"
+COLOR_GREEN="$(tput setaf 2)"
+COLOR_CLR="$(tput sgr0)"
+
 if [ -t 1 -o "$DETOUL_COLOR_ALWAYS" == "1" ]; then
   remove_colors="cat"
 else
@@ -108,7 +112,7 @@ save-spec() {
   stash
   (
     git checkout detoul-spec &&
-      (cat "$DETOUL_TMP/spec" | head -n -1 | grep -v "^$" > "$target" || [ 1 -eq 1 ]) &&
+      (cat "$DETOUL_TMP/spec" | awk -v n=1 'NR>n{print line[NR%n]};{line[NR%n]=$0}' | grep -v "^$" > "$target" || [ 1 -eq 1 ]) &&
       cat "$DETOUL_TMP/spec" | tail -n 1 | tr -d '\n' >> "$target" &&
       git add "$target" &&
       git commit -m "$1" $commit_opts
@@ -117,8 +121,6 @@ save-spec() {
   cd - >/dev/null
 }
 
-((
-
   if [ $# -lt 1 ]; then
     help
   fi
@@ -286,7 +288,7 @@ save-spec() {
     case "$1" in
       test)
         git branch -D "$DETOUL_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1
-        echo -e "\e[32mIntegration branch succesfully created.\e[0m"
+        echo -e "${COLOR_GREEN}Integration branch succesfully created.${COLOR_CLR}"
         ;;
       make)
         git checkout "$DETOUL_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1
@@ -298,7 +300,7 @@ save-spec() {
         ;;
       *)
         git branch -D "$DETOUL_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1
-        echo -e "\e[31mUnknown operation '$1'.\e[0m" >&2
+        echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Unknown operation '$1'.${COLOR_CLR}" >&2
         fail
     esac
     quit
@@ -309,7 +311,7 @@ save-spec() {
       stash-pop
     fi
     git branch -D "$DETOUL_BRANCH" >/dev/null 2>&1
-    echo -e "\e[31mFailure.\e[0m" >&2
+    echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Failure.${COLOR_CLR}" >&2
     fail
   fi
 
diff --git a/detoul-base b/detoul-base
index 6627ec3..5a90fab 100755
--- a/detoul-base
+++ b/detoul-base
@@ -1,5 +1,12 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+COLOR_RED="$(tput setaf 1)"
+COLOR_GREEN="$(tput setaf 2)"
+COLOR_YELLOW="$(tput setaf 3)"
+COLOR_MAGENTA="$(tput setaf 5)"
+COLOR_CYAN="$(tput setaf 6)"
+COLOR_CLR="$(tput sgr0)"
+
 exit_code="0"
 first_command="1"
 
@@ -21,11 +28,11 @@ make-detoul-dependency() {
     export DETOUL_COLOR_ALWAYS="1"
     if ( detoul cat "$1" >/dev/null 2>&1 ); then
       if ( git ls-tree detoul-spec | grep -q "\s$1$" ); then
-        echo -e "Making spec '\e[92m$1\e[0m...'" &&
+        echo -e "Making spec '${COLOR_GREEN}$1${COLOR_CLR}...'" &&
           detoul make "$1" &&
           echo "0" >"$exit_code_file"
       else
-        echo -e "\e[93mWarning: there is an archived detoul spec called '\e[92m$1\e[93m'.\e[0m"
+        echo -e "${COLOR_YELLOW}Warning: there is an archived detoul spec called '${COLOR_GREEN}$1${COLOR_YELLOW}'.${COLOR_CLR}"
         echo "0" >"$exit_code_file"
       fi
     else
@@ -38,7 +45,7 @@ make-detoul-dependency() {
 }
 
 autocomplete() {
-  branch_name="$((git branch -a | cut -c3- ; git tag) | sed -e 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]\+\///g' | grep "^$1" | head -n 1)"
+  branch_name="$((git branch -a | cut -c3- ; git tag) | sed -E 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]+\///g' | grep "^$1" | head -n 1)"
   if [ "$branch_name" == "" ]; then
     echo "$1"
   else
@@ -47,7 +54,7 @@ autocomplete() {
 }
 
 validate-branch-name() {
-  (git branch -a | cut -c3- ; git tag) | sed -e 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]\+\///g' | grep -q "^$1$"
+  (git branch -a | cut -c3- ; git tag) | sed -E 's/remotes\/[[:alnum:]]+\///g' | grep -q "^$1$"
 }
 
 validate-ref-name() {
@@ -56,12 +63,12 @@ validate-ref-name() {
 
 checkout() {
   if [ "$first_command" == "1" ]; then
-    color="\e[0m"
+    color="${COLOR_CLR}"
     first_command=0
   else
-    color="\e[91m"
+    color="${COLOR_RED}"
   fi
-  echo -e "${color}Checking out\e[0m '\e[92m$branch\e[0m'..."
+  echo -e "${color}Checking out${COLOR_CLR} '${COLOR_GREEN}$branch${COLOR_CLR}'..."
   if ( (git branch ; git tag) | grep -q "\b${branch}$" ); then
     checkout_branch="$branch"
   else
@@ -130,9 +137,9 @@ take() {
     cached_commit_key="$(detoul-cache hash take $@)"
     if [ "$3" == "" ]; then
       if [ "$1" == "" ]; then
-        echo -e "Taking '\e[92m$branch\e[0m'..."
+        echo -e "Taking '${COLOR_GREEN}$branch${COLOR_CLR}'..."
       else
-        echo -e "Taking '\e[92m$branch\e[0m' (\e[96m$(echo "$1" | cut -d'-' -f1)\e[0m)..."
+        echo -e "Taking '${COLOR_GREEN}$branch${COLOR_CLR}' (${COLOR_CYAN}$(echo "$1" | cut -d'-' -f1)${COLOR_CLR})..."
       fi
       cached_commit="$(detoul-cache read "$cached_commit_key")"
       if [ $? -ne 0 ] || ! (git reset --hard "$cached_commit" >/dev/null 2>&1); then
@@ -141,7 +148,7 @@ take() {
         return
       fi
     elif [ "$3" == "refresh" ]; then
-      echo -e "\e[93mAttempting to refresh rerere cache...\e[0m" >&2
+      echo -e "${COLOR_YELLOW}Attempting to refresh rerere cache...${COLOR_CLR}" >&2
     fi
     source_branch="$(git show-ref "$branch" | cut -d' ' -f1 | head -n 1)"
     if [ "${1/squash}" != "$1" ]; then
@@ -202,7 +209,7 @@ pick() {
     branch="${command[1]}"
     checkout
   else
-    echo -e "Picking '\e[92m${command[1]}\e[0m'..."
+    echo -e "Picking '${COLOR_GREEN}${command[1]}${COLOR_CLR}'..."
     (
       git cherry-pick "${command[1]}"
     ) >/dev/null 2>&1 || fail
@@ -219,7 +226,7 @@ while read -r line; do
   export branch="$(autocomplete "${command[1]//\*/.*}")"
   (make-detoul-dependency "$branch") || fail
   if ! validate-ref-name "$branch" ; then
-    echo -e "\e[31mReference not found: '$branch'.\e[0m" >&2
+    echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Reference not found: '$branch'.${COLOR_CLR}" >&2
     fail
   fi
   case "${command[0]}" in
@@ -230,21 +237,21 @@ while read -r line; do
       take
       ;;
     take-merge)
-      take merge-squash "$(echo "$line" | sed -e 's/^take-merge\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s*//')"
+      take merge-squash "$(echo "$line" | sed -E 's/^take-merge\s+[[:graph:]]+\s*//')"
       ;;
     take-squash)
-      take squash "$(echo "$line" | sed -e 's/^take-squash\s\+[[:graph:]]\+\s*//')"
+      take squash "$(echo "$line" | sed -E 's/^take-squash\s+[[:graph:]]+\s*//')"
       ;;
     pick)
       pick
       ;;
     exec)
-      echo -e "\e[91mExecuting\e[0m '\e[92m${line/exec /}\e[0m'..."
+      echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Executing${COLOR_CLR} '${COLOR_GREEN}${line/exec /}${COLOR_CLR}'..."
       cd "$GIT_WD"
       bash -c "${line/exec /}" || fail
       ;;
     *)
-      echo -e "\e[31mUnknown directive '${command[0]}'.\e[0m" >&2
+      echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Unknown directive '${command[0]}'.${COLOR_CLR}" >&2
       fail
       ;;
   esac
diff --git a/load-detoul-spec b/load-detoul-spec
index 9589bdb..50b60ec 100755
--- a/load-detoul-spec
+++ b/load-detoul-spec
@@ -1,5 +1,8 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+COLOR_RED="$(tput setaf 1)"
+COLOR_CLR="$(tput sgr0)"
+
 spec="$DETOUL_TMP/spec"
 rm -f "$spec"
 
@@ -15,7 +18,7 @@ rm -f "$spec"
       spec_hash="$(git ls-tree detoul-spec -- .archive/ | grep "\s.archive/$DETOUL_BRANCH$" | xargs echo | cut -d' ' -f3)"
     fi
     if [ "$spec_hash" == "" ]; then
-      echo -e "\e[31mBranch specification file not found.\e[0m"
+      echo -e "${COLOR_RED}Branch specification file not found.${COLOR_CLR}"
       exit 1
     fi
   fi