diff --git a/packages/tui/src/feature-plugins/system/diff-viewer-file-tree.tsx b/packages/tui/src/feature-plugins/system/diff-viewer-file-tree.tsx
index cb15eaa5034a..291612b86f35 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/feature-plugins/system/diff-viewer-file-tree.tsx
+++ b/packages/tui/src/feature-plugins/system/diff-viewer-file-tree.tsx
@@ -85,14 +85,14 @@ export function DiffViewerFileTree(props: DiffViewerFileTreeProps) {
                     backgroundColor={highlighted() ? props.theme.primary : undefined}
                     onMouseUp={() => props.onRowClick?.(row)}
                   >
-                    <text fg={highlighted() ? props.theme.background : fadedColor()} wrapMode="none" flexShrink={0}>
+                    <text fg={highlighted() ? props.theme.selectedListItemText : fadedColor()} wrapMode="none" flexShrink={0}>
                       {prefix()}
                     </text>
                     <box flexGrow={1} minWidth={0}>
                       <text
                         fg={
                           highlighted()
-                            ? props.theme.background
+                            ? props.theme.selectedListItemText
                             : selected()
                               ? props.theme.primary
                               : reviewed() || row.kind === "directory"
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ export function DiffViewerFileTree(props: DiffViewerFileTreeProps) {
                       </text>
                     </box>
                     <text
-                      fg={highlighted() ? props.theme.background : props.theme.textMuted}
+                      fg={highlighted() ? props.theme.selectedListItemText : props.theme.textMuted}
                       wrapMode="none"
                       flexShrink={0}
                     >
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/routes/session/index.tsx b/packages/tui/src/routes/session/index.tsx
index 6d77b0ea58fd..06d1e87e0402 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/routes/session/index.tsx
+++ b/packages/tui/src/routes/session/index.tsx
@@ -1410,7 +1410,7 @@ function UserMessage(props: {
                     const directory = file.mime === "application/x-directory"
                     return (
                       <text fg={theme.text}>
-                        <span style={{ bg: theme.secondary, fg: theme.background }}>
+                        <span style={{ bg: theme.secondary, fg: selectedForeground(theme, theme.secondary) }}>
                           {directory ? " Directory " : " File "}
                         </span>
                         <span style={{ bg: theme.backgroundElement, fg: theme.textMuted }}> {file.filename} </span>
diff --git a/packages/tui/src/theme/index.ts b/packages/tui/src/theme/index.ts
index e8a5f2c5a973..a8c06861765d 100644
--- a/packages/tui/src/theme/index.ts
+++ b/packages/tui/src/theme/index.ts
@@ -100,16 +100,18 @@ export function selectedForeground(theme: Theme, bg?: RGBA): RGBA {
 
   // For transparent backgrounds, calculate contrast based on the actual bg (or fallback to primary)
   if (theme.background.a === 0) {
-    const targetColor = bg ?? theme.primary
-    const { r, g, b } = targetColor
-    const luminance = 0.299 * r + 0.587 * g + 0.114 * b
-    return luminance > 0.5 ? RGBA.fromInts(0, 0, 0) : RGBA.fromInts(255, 255, 255)
+    return contrastForeground(bg ?? theme.primary)
   }
 
   // Fall back to background color
   return theme.background
 }
 
+function contrastForeground(bg: RGBA): RGBA {
+  const luminance = 0.299 * bg.r + 0.587 * bg.g + 0.114 * bg.b
+  return luminance > 0.5 ? RGBA.fromInts(0, 0, 0) : RGBA.fromInts(255, 255, 255)
+}
+
 type HexColor = `#${string}`
 type RefName = string
 type Variant = {
@@ -275,6 +277,8 @@ export function resolveTheme(theme: ThemeJson, mode: "dark" | "light") {
   const hasSelectedListItemText = theme.theme.selectedListItemText !== undefined
   if (hasSelectedListItemText) {
     resolved.selectedListItemText = resolveColor(theme.theme.selectedListItemText!)
+  } else if (resolved.background?.a === 0) {
+    resolved.selectedListItemText = contrastForeground(resolved.primary ?? RGBA.fromInts(0, 0, 0))
   } else {
     // Backward compatibility: if selectedListItemText is not defined, use background color
     // This preserves the current behavior for all existing themes