diff --git a/jcvi/graphics/karyotype.py b/jcvi/graphics/karyotype.py
index 42bcb634..723628b7 100644
--- a/jcvi/graphics/karyotype.py
+++ b/jcvi/graphics/karyotype.py
@@ -121,6 +121,7 @@ def make_circle_name(sid, rev):
 
     in_reverse = sid in rev
     sid = sid.rsplit("_", 1)[-1]
+    sid = sid.replace("chr", "").replace("Chr", "")
     si = re.findall(r"\d+", sid)
     if si:
         si = str(int(si[0]))
diff --git a/tests/graphics/test_karyotype.py b/tests/graphics/test_karyotype.py
index 15b13e41..ecc91fd9 100644
--- a/tests/graphics/test_karyotype.py
+++ b/tests/graphics/test_karyotype.py
@@ -19,6 +19,8 @@
         ("chr01", {}, "1"),
         ("Ttru_Chr1", {}, "1"),
         ("pseudochromosome_1", {}, "1"),
+        ("chrZ", {}, "Z"),
+        ("ChrX", {"ChrX"}, "X-"),
     ],
 )
 def test_make_circle_name(sid, rev, expected):