diff --git a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRenderer.ts b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRenderer.ts
index fdeef91c..a966e6f9 100644
--- a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRenderer.ts
+++ b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRenderer.ts
@@ -226,7 +226,7 @@ export class DomRenderer extends Disposable implements IRenderer {
       `}` +
       `${this._terminalSelector} .${SELECTION_CLASS} div {` +
       ` position: absolute;` +
-      ` background-color: ${this._colors.selectionTransparent.css};` +
+      ` background-color: ${this._colors.selectionOpaque.css};` +
       `}`;
     // Colors
     this._colors.ansi.forEach((c, i) => {
diff --git a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.test.ts b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.test.ts
index 5a374b14..7c48cce8 100644
--- a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.test.ts
+++ b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.test.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@ import { IBufferLine } from 'common/Types';
 import { CellData } from 'common/buffer/CellData';
 import { MockCoreService, MockDecorationService, MockOptionsService } from 'common/TestUtils.test';
 import { css } from 'common/Color';
-import { MockCharacterJoinerService, MockSelectionService } from 'browser/TestUtils.test';
+import { MockCharacterJoinerService } from 'browser/TestUtils.test';
 
 describe('DomRendererRowFactory', () => {
   let dom: jsdom.JSDOM;
@@ -245,6 +245,26 @@ describe('DomRendererRowFactory', () => {
         );
       });
     });
+
+    describe('selectionForeground', () => {
+      it('should force selected cells with content to be rendered above the background', () => {
+        lineData.setCell(0, CellData.fromCharData([DEFAULT_ATTR, 'a', 1, 'a'.charCodeAt(0)]));
+        lineData.setCell(1, CellData.fromCharData([DEFAULT_ATTR, 'b', 1, 'b'.charCodeAt(0)]));
+        rowFactory.onSelectionChanged([1, 0], [2, 0], false);
+        const fragment = rowFactory.createRow(lineData, 0, false, undefined, 0, false, 5, 20);
+        assert.equal(getFragmentHtml(fragment),
+          '<span>a</span><span class="xterm-decoration-top">b</span>'
+        );
+      });
+      it('should force whitespace cells to be rendered above the background', () => {
+        lineData.setCell(1, CellData.fromCharData([DEFAULT_ATTR, 'a', 1, 'a'.charCodeAt(0)]));
+        rowFactory.onSelectionChanged([0, 0], [2, 0], false);
+        const fragment = rowFactory.createRow(lineData, 0, false, undefined, 0, false, 5, 20);
+        assert.equal(getFragmentHtml(fragment),
+          '<span class="xterm-decoration-top"> </span><span class="xterm-decoration-top">a</span>'
+        );
+      });
+    });
   });
 
   function getFragmentHtml(fragment: DocumentFragment): string {
diff --git a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.ts b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.ts
index 266d7587..39fd4fdd 100644
--- a/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.ts
+++ b/src/browser/renderer/dom/DomRendererRowFactory.ts
@@ -206,14 +206,22 @@ export class DomRendererRowFactory {
       }
 
       // Apply selection foreground if applicable
+      const isInSelection = this._isCellInSelection(x, row);
       if (!isTop) {
-        if (this._colors.selectionForeground && this._isCellInSelection(x, row)) {
+        if (this._colors.selectionForeground && isInSelection) {
           fgColorMode = Attributes.CM_RGB;
           fg = this._colors.selectionForeground.rgba >> 8 & 0xFFFFFF;
           fgOverride = this._colors.selectionForeground;
         }
       }
 
+      // If in the selection, force the element to be above the selection to improve contrast and
+      // support opaque selections
+      if (isInSelection) {
+        bgOverride = this._colors.selectionOpaque;
+        isTop = true;
+      }
+
       // If it's a top decoration, render above the selection
       if (isTop) {
         charElement.classList.add(`xterm-decoration-top`);
@@ -226,7 +234,7 @@ export class DomRendererRowFactory {
           if (cell.isBold() && fg < 8 && this._optionsService.rawOptions.drawBoldTextInBrightColors) {
             fg += 8;
           }
-          if (!this._applyMinimumContrast(charElement, this._colors.background, this._colors.ansi[fg], cell, undefined, undefined)) {
+          if (!this._applyMinimumContrast(charElement, this._colors.background, this._colors.ansi[fg], cell, bgOverride, undefined)) {
             charElement.classList.add(`xterm-fg-${fg}`);
           }
           break;
@@ -242,7 +250,7 @@ export class DomRendererRowFactory {
           break;
         case Attributes.CM_DEFAULT:
         default:
-          if (!this._applyMinimumContrast(charElement, this._colors.background, this._colors.foreground, cell, undefined, undefined)) {
+          if (!this._applyMinimumContrast(charElement, this._colors.background, this._colors.foreground, cell, bgOverride, undefined)) {
             if (isInverse) {
               charElement.classList.add(`xterm-fg-${INVERTED_DEFAULT_COLOR}`);
             }
@@ -279,16 +287,14 @@ export class DomRendererRowFactory {
 
     // Try get from cache first, only use the cache when there are no decoration overrides
     let adjustedColor: IColor | undefined | null = undefined;
-    if (!bgOverride || !fgOverride) {
-      adjustedColor = this._colors.contrastCache.getColor(this._workCell.bg, this._workCell.fg);
+    if (!bgOverride && !fgOverride) {
+      adjustedColor = this._colors.contrastCache.getColor(bg.rgba, fg.rgba);
     }
 
     // Calculate and store in cache
     if (adjustedColor === undefined) {
       adjustedColor = color.ensureContrastRatio(bgOverride || bg, fgOverride || fg, this._optionsService.rawOptions.minimumContrastRatio);
-      if (!bgOverride || !fgOverride) {
-        this._colors.contrastCache.setColor(this._workCell.bg, this._workCell.fg, adjustedColor ?? null);
-      }
+      this._colors.contrastCache.setColor((bgOverride || bg).rgba, (fgOverride || fg).rgba, adjustedColor ?? null);
     }
 
     if (adjustedColor) {