diff --git a/plugins/colored-man-pages/README.md b/plugins/colored-man-pages/README.md
index f34941e73..4cbf64d3e 100644
--- a/plugins/colored-man-pages/README.md
+++ b/plugins/colored-man-pages/README.md
@@ -16,3 +16,17 @@ You can also try to color other pages by prefixing the respective command with `
 ```zsh
 colored git help clone
 ```
+
+## Customization
+
+The plugin declares global associative array `less_termcap`, which maps termcap capabilities to escape
+sequences for the `less` pager. This mapping can be further customized by the user after the plugin is
+loaded. Check out sources for more.
+
+For example: `less_termcap[md]` maps to `LESS_TERMCAP_md` which is the escape sequence that tells `less`
+how to print something in bold. It's currently shown in bold red, but if you want to change it, you
+can redefine `less_termcap[md]` in your zshrc file, after OMZ is sourced:
+
+```zsh
+less_termcap[md]="${fg_bold[blue]}" # this tells less to print bold text in bold blue
+```
diff --git a/plugins/colored-man-pages/colored-man-pages.plugin.zsh b/plugins/colored-man-pages/colored-man-pages.plugin.zsh
index ec518472c..37faed672 100644
--- a/plugins/colored-man-pages/colored-man-pages.plugin.zsh
+++ b/plugins/colored-man-pages/colored-man-pages.plugin.zsh
@@ -1,39 +1,48 @@
-if [[ "$OSTYPE" = solaris* ]]
-then
-	if [[ ! -x "$HOME/bin/nroff" ]]
-	then
-		mkdir -p "$HOME/bin"
-		cat > "$HOME/bin/nroff" <<EOF
-#!/bin/sh
-if [ -n "\$_NROFF_U" -a "\$1,\$2,\$3" = "-u0,-Tlp,-man" ]; then
-	shift
-	exec /usr/bin/nroff -u\$_NROFF_U "\$@"
-fi
-#-- Some other invocation of nroff
-exec /usr/bin/nroff "\$@"
-EOF
-		chmod +x "$HOME/bin/nroff"
-	fi
-fi
+# Requires colors autoload.
+# See termcap(5).
+
+# Set up once, and then reuse. This way it supports user overrides after the
+# plugin is loaded.
+typeset -AHg less_termcap
+
+# bold & blinking mode
+less_termcap[mb]="${fg_bold[red]}"
+less_termcap[md]="${fg_bold[red]}"
+less_termcap[me]="${reset_color}"
+# standout mode
+less_termcap[so]="${fg_bold[yellow]}${bg[blue]}"
+less_termcap[se]="${reset_color}"
+# underlining
+less_termcap[us]="${fg_bold[green]}"
+less_termcap[ue]="${reset_color}"
+
+# Absolute path to this file's directory.
+typeset __colored_man_pages_dir="${0:A:h}"
 
 function colored() {
-	command env \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_mb=$(printf "\e[1;31m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_md=$(printf "\e[1;31m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_me=$(printf "\e[0m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_se=$(printf "\e[0m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_so=$(printf "\e[1;44;33m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_ue=$(printf "\e[0m") \
-		LESS_TERMCAP_us=$(printf "\e[1;32m") \
-		PAGER="${commands[less]:-$PAGER}" \
-		_NROFF_U=1 \
-		PATH="$HOME/bin:$PATH" \
-			"$@"
+  local -a environment
+
+  # Convert associative array to plain array of NAME=VALUE items.
+  local k v
+  for k v in "${(@kv)less_termcap}"; do
+    environment+=( "LESS_TERMCAP_${k}=${v}" )
+  done
+
+  # Prefer `less` whenever available, since we specifically configured
+  # environment for it.
+  environment+=( PAGER="${commands[less]:-$PAGER}" )
+
+  # See ./nroff script.
+  if [[ "$OSTYPE" = solaris* ]]; then
+    environment+=( PATH="${__colored_man_pages_dir}:$PATH" )
+  fi
+
+  command env $environment "$@"
 }
 
 # Colorize man and dman/debman (from debian-goodies)
 function man \
-	dman \
-	debman {
-	colored $0 "$@"
+  dman \
+  debman {
+  colored $0 "$@"
 }
diff --git a/plugins/colored-man-pages/nroff b/plugins/colored-man-pages/nroff
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..4ae155d29
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plugins/colored-man-pages/nroff
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+
+# The whole point of this wrapper is to replace emboldening factor -u0 with
+# -u1 under certain circumstances on Solaris.
+
+if [ "$1,$2,$3" = "-u0,-Tlp,-man" ]; then
+  shift
+  exec /usr/bin/nroff -u1 "$@"
+else
+  # Some other invocation of nroff
+  exec /usr/bin/nroff "$@"
+fi