diff --git a/shell/browser/api/electron_api_browser_window.cc b/shell/browser/api/electron_api_browser_window.cc
index 99d30eafeaf9c..9a00344eecb3b 100644
--- a/shell/browser/api/electron_api_browser_window.cc
+++ b/shell/browser/api/electron_api_browser_window.cc
@@ -362,9 +362,7 @@ void BrowserWindow::Blur() {
 
 void BrowserWindow::SetBackgroundColor(const std::string& color_name) {
   BaseWindow::SetBackgroundColor(color_name);
-  auto* view = web_contents()->GetRenderWidgetHostView();
-  if (view)
-    view->SetBackgroundColor(ParseHexColor(color_name));
+  web_contents()->SetPageBaseBackgroundColor(ParseHexColor(color_name));
   // Also update the web preferences object otherwise the view will be reset on
   // the next load URL call
   if (api_web_contents_) {
diff --git a/shell/browser/api/electron_api_web_contents.cc b/shell/browser/api/electron_api_web_contents.cc
index b69fa9aebecc5..e3b3d0d387f6a 100644
--- a/shell/browser/api/electron_api_web_contents.cc
+++ b/shell/browser/api/electron_api_web_contents.cc
@@ -1373,8 +1373,16 @@ void WebContents::HandleNewRenderFrame(
     std::string color_name;
     if (web_preferences->GetPreference(options::kBackgroundColor,
                                        &color_name)) {
-      rwhv->SetBackgroundColor(ParseHexColor(color_name));
+      web_contents()->SetPageBaseBackgroundColor(ParseHexColor(color_name));
     } else {
+      web_contents()->SetPageBaseBackgroundColor(absl::nullopt);
+    }
+
+    // When a page base background color is set, transparency needs to be
+    // explicitly set by calling
+    // RenderWidgetHostOwnerDelegate::SetBackgroundOpaque(false).
+    // RenderWidgetHostViewBase::SetBackgroundColor() will do this for us.
+    if (web_preferences->IsEnabled(options::kTransparent)) {
       rwhv->SetBackgroundColor(SK_ColorTRANSPARENT);
     }
   }