diff --git a/format.cc b/format.cc
index f191e3a4..8bb7c6bf 100644
--- a/format.cc
+++ b/format.cc
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ inline int FMT_SNPRINTF(char *buffer, size_t size, const char *format, ...) {
 }
 
 #endif  // _MSC_VER
+
+const char RESET_COLOR[] = "\x1b[0m";
 }
 
 template <typename T>
@@ -663,7 +665,13 @@ void fmt::BasicFormatter<Char>::DoFormat() {
   writer.buffer_.append(start, s);
 }
 
-const char fmt::ColorWriter::RESET[] = "\x1b[0m";
+void fmt::ColorWriter::operator()(const fmt::BasicWriter<char> &w) const {
+  char escape[] = "\x1b[30m";
+  escape[3] = '0' + color_;
+  std::fputs(escape, stdout);
+  std::fwrite(w.data(), 1, w.size(), stdout);
+  std::fputs(RESET_COLOR, stdout);
+}
 
 // Explicit instantiations for char.
 
diff --git a/format.h b/format.h
index eaf9f5c0..9c5495ca 100644
--- a/format.h
+++ b/format.h
@@ -1472,19 +1472,12 @@ enum Color {BLACK, RED, GREEN, YELLOW, BLUE, MAGENTA, CYAN, WHITE};
 class ColorWriter {
  private:
   Color color_;
-  static const char RESET[];
 
  public:
   explicit ColorWriter(Color c) : color_(c) {}
 
   /** Writes the colored output to stdout. */
-  void operator()(const BasicWriter<char> &w) const {
-    char escape[] = "\x1b[30m";
-    escape[3] = '0' + color_;
-    std::fputs(escape, stdout);
-    std::fwrite(w.data(), 1, w.size(), stdout);
-    std::fputs(RESET, stdout);
-  }
+  void operator()(const BasicWriter<char> &w) const;
 };
 
 // Formats a string and prints it to stdout with the given color.