diff --git a/tailwind.config.js b/tailwind.config.js
index 08fb9819d..83c44d43e 100644
--- a/tailwind.config.js
+++ b/tailwind.config.js
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-const { parseColorMatrix, withOpacityValue } = require('./tailwind/colors');
+const { parseColorMatrix } = require('./tailwind/colors');
 
 module.exports = {
   content: ['./app/**/*.{html,js,ts,tsx}'],
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ module.exports = {
           'Noto Color Emoji',
         ],
       },
-      colors: Object.assign(parseColorMatrix({
+      colors: parseColorMatrix({
         // Define color matrix (of available colors)
         // Colors are configured at runtime with CSS variables in soapbox.json
         gray: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
@@ -41,10 +41,9 @@ module.exports = {
         success: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
         danger: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
         accent: [300, 500],
-      }), {
-        'gradient-purple': withOpacityValue('--color-gradient-purple'),
-        'gradient-blue': withOpacityValue('--color-gradient-blue'),
-        'sea-blue': withOpacityValue('--color-sea-blue'),
+        'gradient-purple': true,
+        'gradient-blue': true,
+        'sea-blue': true,
       }),
     },
   },
diff --git a/tailwind/__tests__/colors-test.js b/tailwind/__tests__/colors-test.js
index 6bf314bf0..cf11f1461 100644
--- a/tailwind/__tests__/colors-test.js
+++ b/tailwind/__tests__/colors-test.js
@@ -30,6 +30,24 @@ describe('parseColorMatrix()', () => {
 
     // Colors are mapped to functions which return CSS values
     expect(result.primary[500]({})).toEqual('rgb(var(--color-primary-500))');
-    expect(result.accent[300]({ opacityValue: .5 })).toEqual('rgb(var(--color-accent-300) / 0.5)');
+    expect(result.accent[300]({ opacityValue: .3 })).toEqual('rgb(var(--color-accent-300) / 0.3)');
+  });
+
+  it('parses single-tint values', () => {
+    const colorMatrix = {
+      gray: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
+      primary: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
+      success: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
+      danger: [50, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500, 600, 700, 800, 900],
+      accent: [300, 500],
+      'gradient-purple': true,
+      'gradient-blue': true,
+      'sea-blue': true,
+    };
+
+    const result = parseColorMatrix(colorMatrix);
+
+    expect(result['sea-blue']({})).toEqual('rgb(var(--color-sea-blue))');
+    expect(result['gradient-purple']({ opacityValue: .7 })).toEqual('rgb(var(--color-gradient-purple) / 0.7)');
   });
 });
diff --git a/tailwind/colors.js b/tailwind/colors.js
index 9fd87e6ec..412de7d3f 100644
--- a/tailwind/colors.js
+++ b/tailwind/colors.js
@@ -8,19 +8,35 @@ function withOpacityValue(variable) {
   };
 }
 
-// Parse list of shades into Tailwind function with CSS variables
-const parseShades = (color, shades) => {
-  return shades.reduce((obj, shade) => {
-    obj[shade] = withOpacityValue(`--color-${color}-${shade}`);
-    return obj;
+// Parse a single color as a CSS variable
+const toColorVariable = (colorName, tint = null) => {
+  const suffix = tint ? `-${tint}` : '';
+  const variable = `--color-${colorName}${suffix}`;
+
+  return withOpacityValue(variable);
+};
+
+// Parse list of tints into Tailwind function with CSS variables
+const parseTints = (colorName, tints) => {
+  return tints.reduce((colorObj, tint) => {
+    colorObj[tint] = toColorVariable(colorName, tint);
+    return colorObj;
   }, {});
 };
 
-// Parse color matrix into Tailwind colors object
-const parseColorMatrix = colors => {
-  return Object.keys(colors).reduce((obj, color) => {
-    obj[color] = parseShades(color, colors[color]);
-    return obj;
+// Parse color matrix into Tailwind color palette
+const parseColorMatrix = colorMatrix => {
+  return Object.entries(colorMatrix).reduce((palette, colorData) => {
+    const [colorName, tints] = colorData;
+
+    // Conditionally parse array or single-tint colors
+    if (Array.isArray(tints)) {
+      palette[colorName] = parseTints(colorName, tints);
+    } else if (tints === true) {
+      palette[colorName] = toColorVariable(colorName);
+    }
+
+    return palette;
   }, {});
 };