diff --git a/core/core-ui.el b/core/core-ui.el
index 4d583503d..bf47e83fe 100644
--- a/core/core-ui.el
+++ b/core/core-ui.el
@@ -153,7 +153,8 @@
   :config
   (setq rainbow-delimiters-max-face-count 4))
 
-(use-package rainbow-mode :defer t
+(use-package rainbow-mode
+  :commands (rainbow-mode)
   :init
   ;; hl-line-mode and rainbow-mode don't play well together
   (add-hook! rainbow-mode