diff --git a/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.test.ts b/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.test.ts
index 994c6d802ae3b2..617945b3d1cdcf 100644
--- a/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.test.ts
+++ b/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.test.ts
@@ -112,5 +112,24 @@ describe('Color Format', () => {
 
       expect(converter('<', HTML_CONTEXT_TYPE)).toBe('&lt;');
     });
+
+    test('returns original value (escaped) on regex with syntax error', () => {
+      const colorer = new ColorFormat(
+        {
+          fieldType: 'string',
+          colors: [
+            {
+              regex: 'nogroup(',
+              text: 'blue',
+              background: 'yellow',
+            },
+          ],
+        },
+        jest.fn()
+      );
+      const converter = colorer.getConverterFor(HTML_CONTEXT_TYPE) as Function;
+
+      expect(converter('<', HTML_CONTEXT_TYPE)).toBe('&lt;');
+    });
   });
 });
diff --git a/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.tsx b/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.tsx
index 3e5ff97830479a..197468fc1592a1 100644
--- a/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.tsx
+++ b/src/plugins/field_formats/common/converters/color.tsx
@@ -35,7 +35,11 @@ export class ColorFormat extends FieldFormat {
     switch (this.param('fieldType')) {
       case 'string':
         return findLast(this.param('colors'), (colorParam: typeof DEFAULT_CONVERTER_COLOR) => {
-          return new RegExp(colorParam.regex).test(val as string);
+          try {
+            return new RegExp(colorParam.regex).test(val as string);
+          } catch (e) {
+            return false;
+          }
         });
 
       case 'number':