diff --git a/src/vs/platform/theme/common/colorUtils.ts b/src/vs/platform/theme/common/colorUtils.ts
index 2388e7cb7024c..ec7ac5ebd9288 100644
--- a/src/vs/platform/theme/common/colorUtils.ts
+++ b/src/vs/platform/theme/common/colorUtils.ts
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@ import { assertNever } from 'vs/base/common/assert';
 import { RunOnceScheduler } from 'vs/base/common/async';
 import { Color } from 'vs/base/common/color';
 import { Emitter, Event } from 'vs/base/common/event';
-import { IJSONSchema, IJSONSchemaMap } from 'vs/base/common/jsonSchema';
+import { IJSONSchema, IJSONSchemaSnippet } from 'vs/base/common/jsonSchema';
 import { IJSONContributionRegistry, Extensions as JSONExtensions } from 'vs/platform/jsonschemas/common/jsonContributionRegistry';
 import * as platform from 'vs/platform/registry/common/platform';
 import { IColorTheme } from 'vs/platform/theme/common/themeService';
@@ -117,25 +117,43 @@ export interface IColorRegistry {
 	 */
 	getColorReferenceSchema(): IJSONSchema;
 
+	/**
+	 * Notify when the color theme or settings change.
+	 */
+	notifyThemeUpdate(theme: IColorTheme): void;
+
 }
 
+type IJSONSchemaForColors = IJSONSchema & { properties: { [name: string]: IJSONSchemaWithSnippets } };
+type IJSONSchemaWithSnippets = IJSONSchema & { defaultSnippets: IJSONSchemaSnippet[] };
+
 class ColorRegistry implements IColorRegistry {
 
 	private readonly _onDidChangeSchema = new Emitter<void>();
 	readonly onDidChangeSchema: Event<void> = this._onDidChangeSchema.event;
 
 	private colorsById: { [key: string]: ColorContribution };
-	private colorSchema: IJSONSchema & { properties: IJSONSchemaMap } = { type: 'object', properties: {} };
+	private colorSchema: IJSONSchemaForColors = { type: 'object', properties: {} };
 	private colorReferenceSchema: IJSONSchema & { enum: string[]; enumDescriptions: string[] } = { type: 'string', enum: [], enumDescriptions: [] };
 
 	constructor() {
 		this.colorsById = {};
 	}
 
+	public notifyThemeUpdate(colorThemeData: IColorTheme) {
+		for (const key of Object.keys(this.colorsById)) {
+			const color = colorThemeData.getColor(key);
+			if (color) {
+				this.colorSchema.properties[key].defaultSnippets[0].body = `\${1:${color.toString()}}`;
+			}
+		}
+		this._onDidChangeSchema.fire();
+	}
+
 	public registerColor(id: string, defaults: ColorDefaults | null, description: string, needsTransparency = false, deprecationMessage?: string): ColorIdentifier {
 		const colorContribution: ColorContribution = { id, description, defaults, needsTransparency, deprecationMessage };
 		this.colorsById[id] = colorContribution;
-		const propertySchema: IJSONSchema = { type: 'string', description, format: 'color-hex', defaultSnippets: [{ body: '${1:#ff0000}' }] };
+		const propertySchema: IJSONSchemaWithSnippets = { type: 'string', description, format: 'color-hex', defaultSnippets: [{ body: '${1:#ff0000}' }] };
 		if (deprecationMessage) {
 			propertySchema.deprecationMessage = deprecationMessage;
 		}
diff --git a/src/vs/workbench/services/themes/browser/workbenchThemeService.ts b/src/vs/workbench/services/themes/browser/workbenchThemeService.ts
index eb40c8d5806ff..327b1d9133ad8 100644
--- a/src/vs/workbench/services/themes/browser/workbenchThemeService.ts
+++ b/src/vs/workbench/services/themes/browser/workbenchThemeService.ts
@@ -136,6 +136,8 @@ export class WorkbenchThemeService extends Disposable implements IWorkbenchTheme
 		this.currentProductIconTheme = ProductIconThemeData.createUnloadedTheme('');
 		this.productIconThemeSequencer = new Sequencer();
 
+		this._register(this.onDidColorThemeChange(theme => getColorRegistry().notifyThemeUpdate(theme)));
+
 		// In order to avoid paint flashing for tokens, because
 		// themes are loaded asynchronously, we need to initialize
 		// a color theme document with good defaults until the theme is loaded