diff --git a/include/mapnik/raster_symbolizer.hpp b/include/mapnik/raster_symbolizer.hpp
index 454c0f663b..657c3fbd2b 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/raster_symbolizer.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/raster_symbolizer.hpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 
 // boost
 #include <boost/shared_ptr.hpp>
+#include <boost/optional.hpp>
 
 namespace mapnik
 {
diff --git a/src/agg/process_raster_symbolizer.cpp b/src/agg/process_raster_symbolizer.cpp
index d0a7018239..b8287208e9 100644
--- a/src/agg/process_raster_symbolizer.cpp
+++ b/src/agg/process_raster_symbolizer.cpp
@@ -98,9 +98,20 @@ void agg_renderer<T>::process(raster_symbolizer const& sym,
                                                    filter_radius);
                 }
             }
+            // handle whether to premultiply the source
+            // data before compositing
+            // first, default to what the data reports
+            bool premultiply_source = !source->premultiplied_alpha_;
+            // the, allow the user to override
+            boost::optional<bool> is_premultiplied = sym.premultiplied();
+            if (is_premultiplied)
+            {
+                if (*is_premultiplied) premultiply_source = false;
+                else premultiply_source = true;
+            }
             composite(current_buffer_->data(), target.data_,
                       sym.comp_op(), sym.get_opacity(),
-                      start_x, start_y, !source->premultiplied_alpha_);
+                      start_x, start_y, premultiply_source);
         }
     }
 }
diff --git a/src/raster_symbolizer.cpp b/src/raster_symbolizer.cpp
index b70657ea4b..cfdf4c6327 100644
--- a/src/raster_symbolizer.cpp
+++ b/src/raster_symbolizer.cpp
@@ -55,7 +55,8 @@ raster_symbolizer::raster_symbolizer(raster_symbolizer const& rhs)
         opacity_(rhs.opacity_),
         colorizer_(rhs.colorizer_),
         filter_factor_(rhs.filter_factor_),
-        mesh_size_(rhs.mesh_size_) {}
+        mesh_size_(rhs.mesh_size_),
+        premultiplied_(rhs.premultiplied_) {}
 
 std::string const& raster_symbolizer::get_mode() const
 {
diff --git a/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-gdal.xml b/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-gdal.xml
index 358a2260bb..6dae4a4efa 100644
--- a/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-gdal.xml
+++ b/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-gdal.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 <Style name="white">
   <Rule>
-    <RasterSymbolizer opacity="1" scaling="bilinear" comp-op="src-over"/>
+    <RasterSymbolizer />
   </Rule>
 </Style>
 <Layer name="white"
diff --git a/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-raster.xml b/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-raster.xml
index 61cdb9c47b..c759ff059d 100644
--- a/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-raster.xml
+++ b/tests/visual_tests/styles/tiff-alpha-broken-assoc-alpha-raster.xml
@@ -4,7 +4,7 @@
 
 <Style name="white">
   <Rule>
-    <RasterSymbolizer opacity="1" scaling="bilinear" comp-op="src-over"/>
+    <RasterSymbolizer premultiplied="false"/>
   </Rule>
 </Style>
 <Layer name="white"