diff --git a/kcms/colors/colors.h b/kcms/colors/colors.h
--- a/kcms/colors/colors.h
+++ b/kcms/colors/colors.h
@@ -53,6 +53,7 @@
 
     enum Roles {
         SchemeNameRole = Qt::UserRole + 1,
+        UntranslatedNameRole,
         PaletteRole,
         RemovableRole,
         PendingDeletionRole
diff --git a/kcms/colors/colors.cpp b/kcms/colors/colors.cpp
--- a/kcms/colors/colors.cpp
+++ b/kcms/colors/colors.cpp
@@ -113,9 +113,16 @@
 
 int KCMColors::indexOfScheme(const QString &schemeName) const
 {
-    const auto results = m_model->match(m_model->index(0, 0), SchemeNameRole, schemeName);
+    // Matches the scheme file name (without .colors suffix)
+    auto results = m_model->match(m_model->index(0, 0), SchemeNameRole, schemeName);
     if (results.count() == 1) {
-        return results.first().row();
+        return results.constFirst().row();
+    }
+
+    // Also try matching for the untranslated theme name
+    results = m_model->match(m_model->index(0, 0), UntranslatedNameRole, schemeName);
+    if (results.count() == 1) {
+        return results.constFirst().row();
     }
 
     return -1;
@@ -173,6 +180,7 @@
 
         QStandardItem *item = new QStandardItem(name);
         item->setData(baseName, SchemeNameRole);
+        item->setData(group.readEntryUntranslated("Name", baseName), UntranslatedNameRole);
         item->setData(fi.isWritable(), RemovableRole);
         item->setData(false, PendingDeletionRole);
 
@@ -380,7 +388,7 @@
     m_config->reparseConfiguration();
 
     KConfigGroup group(m_config, "General");
-    const QString schemeName = group.readEntry("ColorScheme", s_defaultColorSchemeName);
+    const QString schemeName = group.readEntryUntranslated("ColorScheme", s_defaultColorSchemeName);
 
     // If the scheme named in kdeglobals doesn't exist, show a warning and use default scheme
     if (indexOfScheme(schemeName) == -1) {