diff --git a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/renderer.py b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/renderer.py
index 70b549ccf3..f75252881f 100644
--- a/holoviews/plotting/mpl/renderer.py
+++ b/holoviews/plotting/mpl/renderer.py
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ def validate(cls, options):
         """
         Validates a dictionary of options set on the backend.
         """
-        if options['fig']=='pdf' and not cls.options['fig'] == 'pdf':
+        if options['fig']=='pdf':
             outputwarning.warning("PDF output is experimental, may not be supported"
                                   "by your browser and may change in future.")
 
diff --git a/holoviews/plotting/renderer.py b/holoviews/plotting/renderer.py
index e473741039..9d34dd7d64 100644
--- a/holoviews/plotting/renderer.py
+++ b/holoviews/plotting/renderer.py
@@ -210,6 +210,7 @@ def html(self, obj, fmt=None, css=None):
         """
         plot, fmt =  self._validate(obj, fmt)
         figdata, _ = self(plot, fmt)
+        if css is None: css = self.css
 
         if fmt in ['html', 'json']:
             return figdata
@@ -220,7 +221,6 @@ def html(self, obj, fmt=None, css=None):
                 w,h = self.get_size(plot)
                 css['height'] = '%dpx' % (h*self.dpi*1.15)
 
-        if css is None: css = self.css
         if isinstance(css, dict):
             css = '; '.join("%s: %s" % (k, v) for k, v in css.items())
         else: