diff --git a/docs/changelog/3426.misc.rst b/docs/changelog/3426.misc.rst
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..69feebd2a4
--- /dev/null
+++ b/docs/changelog/3426.misc.rst
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+Adds ability to configure the stderr color for output received from external
+commands.
diff --git a/src/tox/config/cli/parser.py b/src/tox/config/cli/parser.py
index 45ede3cdc0..c265f012f3 100644
--- a/src/tox/config/cli/parser.py
+++ b/src/tox/config/cli/parser.py
@@ -11,6 +11,8 @@
 from pathlib import Path
 from typing import TYPE_CHECKING, Any, Callable, Dict, List, Literal, Optional, Sequence, Tuple, Type, TypeVar, cast
 
+from colorama import Fore
+
 from tox.config.loader.str_convert import StrConvert
 from tox.plugin import NAME
 from tox.util.ci import is_ci
@@ -366,6 +368,12 @@ def add_color_flags(parser: ArgumentParser) -> None:
         choices=["yes", "no"],
         help="should output be enriched with colors, default is yes unless TERM=dumb or NO_COLOR is defined.",
     )
+    parser.add_argument(
+        "--stderr-color",
+        default="RED",
+        choices=["0", *Fore.__dict__.keys()],
+        help="color for stderr output, use 0 to disable coloring.",
+    )
 
 
 def add_exit_and_dump_after(parser: ArgumentParser) -> None:
diff --git a/src/tox/execute/api.py b/src/tox/execute/api.py
index c6fe3c20f8..21fb2ae13c 100644
--- a/src/tox/execute/api.py
+++ b/src/tox/execute/api.py
@@ -122,11 +122,17 @@ def call(
         env: ToxEnv,
     ) -> Iterator[ExecuteStatus]:
         start = time.monotonic()
+        stderr_color = Fore.RED
+        try:
+            cfg_color = env.conf._conf.options.stderr_color  # noqa: SLF001
+            stderr_color = None if cfg_color == "0" else Fore.__dict__[cfg_color]
+        except (AttributeError, KeyError, TypeError):  # many tests have a mocked 'env'
+            pass
         try:
             # collector is what forwards the content from the file streams to the standard streams
             out, err = out_err[0].buffer, out_err[1].buffer
             out_sync = SyncWrite(out.name, out if show else None)
-            err_sync = SyncWrite(err.name, err if show else None, Fore.RED if self._colored else None)
+            err_sync = SyncWrite(err.name, err if show else None, stderr_color)
             with out_sync, err_sync:
                 instance = self.build_instance(request, self._option_class(env), out_sync, err_sync)
                 with instance as status:
diff --git a/tests/config/cli/test_cli_env_var.py b/tests/config/cli/test_cli_env_var.py
index 7f265c78ce..442fa65e5f 100644
--- a/tests/config/cli/test_cli_env_var.py
+++ b/tests/config/cli/test_cli_env_var.py
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@ def test_verbose_no_test() -> None:
         "verbose": 4,
         "quiet": 0,
         "colored": "no",
+        "stderr_color": "RED",
         "work_dir": None,
         "root_dir": None,
         "config_file": None,
@@ -90,6 +91,7 @@ def test_env_var_exhaustive_parallel_values(
     assert vars(options.parsed) == {
         "always_copy": False,
         "colored": "no",
+        "stderr_color": "RED",
         "command": "legacy",
         "default_runner": "virtualenv",
         "develop": False,
diff --git a/tests/config/cli/test_cli_ini.py b/tests/config/cli/test_cli_ini.py
index 82fb7fc950..d608f57a02 100644
--- a/tests/config/cli/test_cli_ini.py
+++ b/tests/config/cli/test_cli_ini.py
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 def default_options() -> dict[str, Any]:
     return {
         "colored": "no",
+        "stderr_color": "RED",
         "command": "r",
         "default_runner": "virtualenv",
         "develop": False,
@@ -200,6 +201,7 @@ def test_ini_exhaustive_parallel_values(core_handlers: dict[str, Callable[[State
     options = get_options("p")
     assert vars(options.parsed) == {
         "colored": "yes",
+        "stderr_color": "RED",
         "command": "p",
         "default_runner": "virtualenv",
         "develop": False,