diff --git a/src/core/image.js b/src/core/image.js
index 8c7d8d4e0..424817f36 100644
--- a/src/core/image.js
+++ b/src/core/image.js
@@ -383,7 +383,7 @@ var PDFImage = (function PDFImageClosure() {
           rgbaBuf[j] = alphaBuf[i];
         }
       } else {
-        // Common case: no mask (and no need to allocate the extra buffer).
+        // No mask.
         for (var i = 0, j = 3, ii = width * actualHeight; i < ii; ++i, j += 4) {
           rgbaBuf[j] = 255;
         }
@@ -467,23 +467,35 @@ var PDFImage = (function PDFImageClosure() {
 
       var comps = this.getComponents(imgArray);
 
-      var rgbaBuf = new Uint8Array(drawWidth * drawHeight * 4);
-
-      // Handle opacity here since color key masking needs to be performed on
-      // undecoded values.
-      this.fillOpacity(rgbaBuf, drawWidth, drawHeight, actualHeight, comps);
+      // If opacity data is present, use RGBA_32BPP form. Otherwise, use the
+      // more compact RGB_24BPP form if allowable.
+      var alpha01, maybeUndoPreblend;
+      if (!forceRGBA && !this.smask && !this.mask) {
+        imgData.kind = ImageKind.RGB_24BPP;
+        imgData.data = new Uint8Array(drawWidth * drawHeight * 3);
+        alpha01 = 0;
+        maybeUndoPreblend = false;
+      } else {
+        imgData.kind = ImageKind.RGBA_32BPP;
+        imgData.data = new Uint8Array(drawWidth * drawHeight * 4);
+        alpha01 = 1;
+        maybeUndoPreblend = true;
+
+        // Color key masking (opacity) must be performed before decoding.
+        this.fillOpacity(imgData.data, drawWidth, drawHeight, actualHeight,
+                         comps);
+      }
 
       if (this.needsDecode) {
         this.decodeBuffer(comps);
       }
+      this.colorSpace.fillRgb(imgData.data, originalWidth, originalHeight,
+                              drawWidth, drawHeight, actualHeight, bpc, comps,
+                              alpha01);
+      if (maybeUndoPreblend) {
+        this.undoPreblend(imgData.data, drawWidth, actualHeight);
+      }
 
-      this.colorSpace.fillRgb(rgbaBuf, originalWidth, originalHeight, drawWidth,
-                              drawHeight, actualHeight, bpc, comps);
-
-      this.undoPreblend(rgbaBuf, drawWidth, actualHeight);
-
-      imgData.kind = ImageKind.RGBA_32BPP;
-      imgData.data = rgbaBuf;
       return imgData;
     },
     fillGrayBuffer: function PDFImage_fillGrayBuffer(buffer) {
diff --git a/src/shared/colorspace.js b/src/shared/colorspace.js
index 9273794ee..83340d601 100644
--- a/src/shared/colorspace.js
+++ b/src/shared/colorspace.js
@@ -74,11 +74,13 @@ var ColorSpace = (function ColorSpaceClosure() {
       return false;
     },
     /**
-     * Fills in the RGB colors in an RGBA buffer.
+     * Fills in the RGB colors in the destination buffer.  alpha01 indicates
+     * how many alpha components there are in the dest array; it will be either
+     * 0 (RGB array) or 1 (RGBA array).
      */
-    fillRgb: function ColorSpace_fillRgb(rgbaBuf, originalWidth,
+    fillRgb: function ColorSpace_fillRgb(dest, originalWidth,
                                          originalHeight, width, height,
-                                         actualHeight, bpc, comps) {
+                                         actualHeight, bpc, comps, alpha01) {
       var count = originalWidth * originalHeight;
       var rgbBuf = null;
       var numComponentColors = 1 << bpc;
@@ -108,14 +110,14 @@ var ColorSpace = (function ColorSpaceClosure() {
                           /* alpha01 = */ 0);
 
         if (!needsResizing) {
-          // Fill in the RGB values directly into |rgbaBuf|.
-          var rgbaPos = 0;
+          // Fill in the RGB values directly into |dest|.
+          var destPos = 0;
           for (var i = 0; i < count; ++i) {
             var key = comps[i] * 3;
-            rgbaBuf[rgbaPos++] = colorMap[key];
-            rgbaBuf[rgbaPos++] = colorMap[key + 1];
-            rgbaBuf[rgbaPos++] = colorMap[key + 2];
-            rgbaPos++;
+            dest[destPos++] = colorMap[key];
+            dest[destPos++] = colorMap[key + 1];
+            dest[destPos++] = colorMap[key + 2];
+            destPos += alpha01;
           }
         } else {
           rgbBuf = new Uint8Array(count * 3);
@@ -129,9 +131,9 @@ var ColorSpace = (function ColorSpaceClosure() {
         }
       } else {
         if (!needsResizing) {
-          // Fill in the RGB values directly into |rgbaBuf|.
-          this.getRgbBuffer(comps, 0, width * actualHeight, rgbaBuf, 0, bpc,
-                            /* alpha01 = */ 1);
+          // Fill in the RGB values directly into |dest|.
+          this.getRgbBuffer(comps, 0, width * actualHeight, dest, 0, bpc,
+                            alpha01);
         } else {
           rgbBuf = new Uint8Array(count * 3);
           this.getRgbBuffer(comps, 0, count, rgbBuf, 0, bpc,
@@ -145,11 +147,12 @@ var ColorSpace = (function ColorSpaceClosure() {
                                    originalHeight, width, height);
         }
         var rgbPos = 0;
-        var actualLength = width * actualHeight * 4;
-        for (var i = 0; i < actualLength; i += 4) {
-          rgbaBuf[i] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
-          rgbaBuf[i + 1] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
-          rgbaBuf[i + 2] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
+        var destPos = 0;
+        for (var i = 0, ii = width * actualHeight; i < ii; i++) {
+          dest[destPos++] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
+          dest[destPos++] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
+          dest[destPos++] = rgbBuf[rgbPos++];
+          destPos += alpha01;
         }
       }
     },