diff --git a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/less/notebook.less b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/less/notebook.less
index 0da6b5af3..0be1c6aec 100644
--- a/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/less/notebook.less
+++ b/IPython/frontend/html/notebook/static/less/notebook.less
@@ -173,7 +173,6 @@ div.ui-widget-content {
 
     &.selected {
         .corner-all;
-        background-color:@cell_selected_background;
         border : thin @border_color solid;
     }
 }