diff --git a/packages/app/src/session/timeline/message-timeline.tsx b/packages/app/src/session/timeline/message-timeline.tsx
index d781e05649b..48857b3a453 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/session/timeline/message-timeline.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/session/timeline/message-timeline.tsx
@@ -480,6 +480,7 @@ function MessageTimelineView(
   const backgroundHintPresence = createAnimatedPresence(backgroundHintPartID, () => backgroundHintRef() ?? null)
   return (
     <VirtualizedTimeline
+      workspaceSession={workspaceSession}
       bottomSpacer={
         <Show when={backgroundHintPresence.present()}>
           <div
diff --git a/packages/app/src/session/timeline/virtualizer.tsx b/packages/app/src/session/timeline/virtualizer.tsx
index 5fff7876e26..ba310a6d313 100644
--- a/packages/app/src/session/timeline/virtualizer.tsx
+++ b/packages/app/src/session/timeline/virtualizer.tsx
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ type Input = {
 type ViewProps = {
   header: JSX.Element
   bottomSpacer?: JSX.Element
+  workspaceSession: Accessor<boolean>
   deferred: (row: TimelineRow.TimelineRow) => boolean
   renderRow: (row: Accessor<TimelineRow.TimelineRow>, onSizeChange?: () => void) => JSX.Element
 }
@@ -400,7 +401,7 @@ export function createTimelineVirtualizer(input: Input) {
     }
 
     return (
-      <div class="relative w-full h-full min-w-0">
+      <div class="relative w-full h-full min-w-0" data-workspace-session={props.workspaceSession() ? "" : undefined}>
         <div
           class="absolute left-1/2 -translate-x-1/2 z-[60] pointer-events-none transition-all duration-200 ease-out"
           classList={{
diff --git a/packages/session-ui/src/components/message-part.css b/packages/session-ui/src/components/message-part.css
index 4d5ea35a363..da20e98e1be 100644
--- a/packages/session-ui/src/components/message-part.css
+++ b/packages/session-ui/src/components/message-part.css
@@ -1516,3 +1516,8 @@
 :root[data-color-scheme="light"] body [data-component="user-message"] [data-slot="user-message-text"] {
   background: var(--v2-background-bg-layer-02);
 }
+
+:root body [data-workspace-session] [data-component="user-message"] [data-slot="user-message-text"] {
+  background: var(--v2-background-bg-accent);
+  color: var(--v2-text-text-contrast);
+}