diff --git a/cortex/dataset/views.py b/cortex/dataset/views.py
index ebeed772..edb12646 100644
--- a/cortex/dataset/views.py
+++ b/cortex/dataset/views.py
@@ -218,8 +218,8 @@ def get_cmapdict(self):
             if self.cmap not in colormaps:
                 raise ValueError('Unkown color map %s' % self.cmap)
             I = plt.imread(colormaps[self.cmap])
-            cmap = colors.ListedColormap(np.squeeze(I))
-            cmap.name = self.cmap
+            name = self.cmap if isinstance(self.cmap, str) else self.cmap.name
+            cmap = colors.ListedColormap(np.squeeze(I), name=name)
             # Register colormap to matplotlib to avoid loading it again
             register_cmap(cmap)
 
diff --git a/cortex/utils.py b/cortex/utils.py
index f3b6ff8e..4a90ed2a 100644
--- a/cortex/utils.py
+++ b/cortex/utils.py
@@ -1007,8 +1007,7 @@ def get_cmap(name):
     colormaps = dict((c[:-4], os.path.join(cmapdir, c)) for c in colormaps)
     if name in colormaps:
         I = plt.imread(colormaps[name])
-        cmap = colors.ListedColormap(np.squeeze(I))
-        cmap.name = name
+        cmap = colors.ListedColormap(np.squeeze(I), name=name)
         try:
             register_cmap(cmap)
         except: