diff --git a/st.c b/st.c
index 92854b4..8e9e895 100644
--- a/st.c
+++ b/st.c
@@ -3096,7 +3096,7 @@ drawregion(int x1, int y1, int x2, int y2) {
 		ic = ib = ox = 0;
 		for(x = x1; x < x2; x++) {
 			new = term.line[y][x];
-			if(ena_sel && *(new.c) && selected(x, y))
+			if(ena_sel && selected(x, y))
 				new.mode ^= ATTR_REVERSE;
 			if(ib > 0 && (ATTRCMP(base, new)
 					|| ib >= DRAW_BUF_SIZ-UTF_SIZ)) {