In this paper, we explore the possibility of constructing the quantum chromodynamics of a massive color-octet vector field without introducing higher structures like extended gauge symmetries, extra dimensions or scalar fields. We show that gauge invariance is not enough to constraint the couplings. Nevertheless the requirement of unitarity fixes the values of the coupling constants, which otherwise would be arbitrary. Additionally, it opens a new discrete symmetry which makes the coloron stable and avoid its resonant production at a collider. On the other hand, a judicious definition of the gauge fixing terms modifies the propagator of the massive field making it well-behaved in the ultra-violet limit. The relation between our model and the more general approach based on extended gauge symmetries is also discussed.