A water-soluble polyvinylpyrridinium derivative containing a quaternary nitrogen and an anionic moiety selected from a sulfonate and/or a carboxylate functionality, said polyvinylpyrridinium derivative having the structure ##STR00001## wherein a is a repeating unit of 1 to 100; b is a repeating unit of 0 to 99; c is a repeating unit of 0 to 99; d is a repeating unit of 0 1 to 99; R is selected from the group consisting of (CR.sub.1R.sub.2).sub.m1, benzene, and substituted benzene; Y is selected from the group consisting of (CR.sub.3R.sub.4).sub.m2, benzene, and substituted benzene; substituted benzene is independently a benzene substituted with a group selected from the group consisting of amino moeity moiety, nitro moiety, halogen moiety, and combinations thereof; Z is derived from an ethylenically unsaturated monomer; m.sub.1 and m.sub.2 are independently 0 to 10; M.sup.+ is independently a cation wherein M is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, ammonia, alkali metals, alkaline earth metals, zinc, copper, organic amines, amino acids, and amino saccharides; R.sub.1, R.sub.2, R.sub.3, and R.sub.4 are independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, hydroxyl, alkyl having C.sub.1 to C.sub.6, aryl having C.sub.6 to C.sub.18, and alkaryl having C.sub.7 to C.sub.18; and X.sup.- is independently a halide, with the proviso that if Y is benzene or substituted benzene then a is 0 to 99 and b is 1 to 100. The polyvinylpyrridinium derivatives inhibit dye transfer in detergent compositions having a high level of anionic surfactants without adversely affecting stain or soil removal or soil redeposition.