diff --git a/lib/bootstrap-sass.rb b/lib/bootstrap-sass.rb
index 38d1c8835e7d..f490f020ee31 100644
--- a/lib/bootstrap-sass.rb
+++ b/lib/bootstrap-sass.rb
@@ -4,6 +4,8 @@ module Bootstrap
   module Rails
     class Engine < ::Rails::Engine
       # Rails, will you please look in our vendor? kthx
+
+      paths["config/initializers"] << 'lib/bootstrap-sass/config'
     end
   end
 end
diff --git a/lib/bootstrap-sass/config/sass-ie_hex_str.rb b/lib/bootstrap-sass/config/sass-ie_hex_str.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..51bb904faa77
--- /dev/null
+++ b/lib/bootstrap-sass/config/sass-ie_hex_str.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,14 @@
+require 'sass'
+
+module Sass::Script::Functions
+  # LARS: Snatched from compass - 2011-11-29 - used for gradients in IE6-9
+  # returns an IE hex string for a color with an alpha channel
+  # suitable for passing to IE filters.
+  def ie_hex_str(color)
+    assert_type color, :Color
+    alpha = (color.alpha * 255).round
+    alphastr = alpha.to_s(16).rjust(2, '0')
+    Sass::Script::String.new("##{alphastr}#{color.send(:hex_str)[1..-1]}".upcase)
+  end
+  declare :ie_hex_str, [:color]
+end
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/vendor/assets/stylesheets/bootstrap/mixins.css.scss b/vendor/assets/stylesheets/bootstrap/mixins.css.scss
index b55dd764792e..054b2dee5657 100644
--- a/vendor/assets/stylesheets/bootstrap/mixins.css.scss
+++ b/vendor/assets/stylesheets/bootstrap/mixins.css.scss
@@ -166,7 +166,7 @@
   background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(left, $startColor, $endColor); // Safari 5.1+, Chrome 10+
   background-image: -o-linear-gradient(left, $startColor, $endColor); // Opera 11.10
   background-image: linear-gradient(left, $startColor, $endColor); // Le standard
-  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{$startColor}', endColorstr='#{$endColor}', GradientType=1); // IE9 and down
+  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($startColor)}', endColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($endColor)}', GradientType=1); // IE9 and down
 }
 @mixin vertical-gradient($startColor: #555, $endColor: #333) {
   background-color: $endColor;
@@ -178,7 +178,7 @@
   background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(top, $startColor, $endColor); // Safari 5.1+, Chrome 10+
   background-image: -o-linear-gradient(top, $startColor, $endColor); // Opera 11.10
   background-image: linear-gradient(top, $startColor, $endColor); // The standard
-  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{$startColor}', endColorstr='#{$endColor}', GradientType=0); // IE9 and down
+  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($startColor)}', endColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($endColor)}', GradientType=0); // IE9 and down
 }
 @mixin directional-gradient($startColor: #555, $endColor: #333, $deg: 45deg) {
   background-color: $endColor;
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@
   background-image: -ms-linear-gradient($startColor, $midColor $colorStop, $endColor);
   background-image: -o-linear-gradient($startColor, $midColor $colorStop, $endColor);
   background-image: linear-gradient($startColor, $midColor $colorStop, $endColor);
-  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{$startColor}', endColorstr='#{$endColor}', GradientType=0); // IE9 and down, gets no color-stop at all for proper fallback
+  filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.gradient(startColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($startColor)}', endColorstr='#{ie_hex_str($endColor)}', GradientType=0); // IE9 and down, gets no color-stop at all for proper fallback
 }
 
 // Reset filters for IE