diff --git a/es-core/src/ThemeData.cpp b/es-core/src/ThemeData.cpp
index 49ed2d1be..d3de108a0 100644
--- a/es-core/src/ThemeData.cpp
+++ b/es-core/src/ThemeData.cpp
@@ -981,7 +981,7 @@ void ThemeData::parseVariables(const pugi::xml_node& root)
 
     for (pugi::xml_node_iterator it = variables.begin(); it != variables.end(); ++it) {
         std::string key {it->name()};
-        std::string val {it->text().as_string()};
+        std::string val {resolvePlaceholders(it->text().as_string())};
 
         if (!val.empty())
             mVariables.insert(std::pair<std::string, std::string>(key, val));