diff --git a/src/pycea/pl/_utils.py b/src/pycea/pl/_utils.py
index 04f7fe9..5c98a1d 100755
--- a/src/pycea/pl/_utils.py
+++ b/src/pycea/pl/_utils.py
@@ -365,7 +365,10 @@ def _get_colors(
     if data.dtype.kind in ["i", "f"]:  # Numeric
         norm = _get_norm(vmin=vmin, vmax=vmax, data=data)
         color_map = plt.get_cmap(cmap)
-        colors = [color_map(norm(data[i])) if i in data.index else na_color for i in indicies]
+        # Vectorized: reindex to align with indicies (NaN for missing), then apply colormap in bulk
+        values = data.reindex(indicies)
+        color_map.set_bad(na_color)
+        colors = color_map(norm(np.ma.masked_invalid(values.values.astype(float))))
         legend = _cbar_legend(key, color_map, norm)
         n_categories = 0
     else:  # Categorical
diff --git a/tests/test_plot_utils.py b/tests/test_plot_utils.py
index bec54ed..0edea3e 100755
--- a/tests/test_plot_utils.py
+++ b/tests/test_plot_utils.py
@@ -240,9 +240,9 @@ def test_get_colors_numeric():
     data = pd.Series([0, 1, 2], index=["a", "b", "c"])
     indices = ["a", "b", "c", "d"]
     colors, legend, ncat = _get_colors(tdata, "num", data, indices, cmap="viridis")
-    assert isinstance(colors, list)
+    assert isinstance(colors, np.ndarray)
     assert len(colors) == 4
-    assert colors[-1] == "lightgrey"
+    np.testing.assert_allclose(colors[-1], mcolors.to_rgba("lightgrey"))
     assert ncat == 0
     assert isinstance(legend, dict)