diff --git a/src/styles/main.css b/src/styles/main.css
index 16317662..be87fdb2 100644
--- a/src/styles/main.css
+++ b/src/styles/main.css
@@ -3761,7 +3761,7 @@ html[data-show-path-bars='0'] .path-pair-bar {
   gap: 2px !important;
   min-height: 18px !important;
   padding: 1px 3px !important;
-  background: #f5f5f5 !important;
+  background: #f0f0f0 !important;
 }
 
 .text-merge-view .pane-header h2 {
diff --git a/src/styles/textMergeChromeDensity.test.ts b/src/styles/textMergeChromeDensity.test.ts
index 48059020..00f68009 100644
--- a/src/styles/textMergeChromeDensity.test.ts
+++ b/src/styles/textMergeChromeDensity.test.ts
@@ -113,3 +113,9 @@ describe('merge conflict li border', () => {
     )
   })
 })
+
+describe('merge pane-header fill', () => {
+  it('matches capture pane-header fill #f0f0f0', () => {
+    expect(css).toMatch(/\.text-merge-view \.pane-header\s*\{[\s\S]*?background:\s*#f0f0f0/)
+  })
+})
diff --git a/src/views/TextMergeView.vue b/src/views/TextMergeView.vue
index 2cd77c0b..a717744a 100644
--- a/src/views/TextMergeView.vue
+++ b/src/views/TextMergeView.vue
@@ -1582,7 +1582,7 @@ watch(
   min-height: 18px;
   padding: 1px 3px;
   border-bottom: 1px solid var(--app-border);
-  background: #f5f5f5;
+  background: #f0f0f0;
   background: var(--app-surface-muted);
 }