diff --git a/cogl/cogl-bitmap-private.h b/cogl/cogl-bitmap-private.h
index d14293fad..bf21a5732 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-bitmap-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-bitmap-private.h
@@ -155,6 +155,10 @@ _cogl_bitmap_copy_subregion (CoglBitmap *src,
 			     int         width,
 			     int         height);
 
+/* Creates a deep copy of the source bitmap */
+CoglBitmap *
+_cogl_bitmap_copy (CoglBitmap *src_bmp);
+
 gboolean
 _cogl_bitmap_get_size_from_file (const char *filename,
                                  int        *width,
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-bitmap.c b/cogl/cogl-bitmap.c
index 355a2a253..cc83dda72 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-bitmap.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-bitmap.c
@@ -181,6 +181,35 @@ _cogl_bitmap_convert_format_and_premult (CoglBitmap *bmp,
   return dst_bmp;
 }
 
+CoglBitmap *
+_cogl_bitmap_copy (CoglBitmap *src_bmp)
+{
+  CoglBitmap *dst_bmp;
+  CoglPixelFormat src_format = _cogl_bitmap_get_format (src_bmp);
+  int bpp = _cogl_get_format_bpp (src_format);
+  int width = _cogl_bitmap_get_width (src_bmp);
+  int height = _cogl_bitmap_get_height (src_bmp);
+  int dst_rowstride = width * bpp;
+
+  /* Round the rowstride up to the next nearest multiple of 4 bytes */
+  dst_rowstride = (dst_rowstride + 3) & ~3;
+
+  dst_bmp = _cogl_bitmap_new_from_data (g_malloc (dst_rowstride * height),
+                                        src_format,
+                                        width, height,
+                                        dst_rowstride,
+                                        (CoglBitmapDestroyNotify) g_free,
+                                        NULL);
+
+  _cogl_bitmap_copy_subregion (src_bmp,
+                               dst_bmp,
+                               0, 0, /* src_x/y */
+                               0, 0, /* dst_x/y */
+                               width, height);
+
+  return dst_bmp;
+}
+
 void
 _cogl_bitmap_copy_subregion (CoglBitmap *src,
 			     CoglBitmap *dst,
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-texture.c b/cogl/cogl-texture.c
index 15835aba7..bedde9091 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-texture.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-texture.c
@@ -184,27 +184,7 @@ _cogl_texture_prepare_for_upload (CoglBitmap      *src_bmp,
   if (_cogl_texture_needs_premult_conversion (src_format,
                                               dst_format))
     {
-      guint8 *src_data;
-      guint8 *dst_data;
-
-      if ((src_data = _cogl_bitmap_map (src_bmp,
-                                        COGL_BUFFER_ACCESS_READ, 0)) == NULL)
-        return NULL;
-
-      dst_data = g_memdup (src_data,
-                           _cogl_bitmap_get_height (src_bmp) *
-                           _cogl_bitmap_get_rowstride (src_bmp));
-
-      _cogl_bitmap_unmap (src_bmp);
-
-      dst_bmp =
-        _cogl_bitmap_new_from_data (dst_data,
-                                    src_format,
-                                    _cogl_bitmap_get_width (src_bmp),
-                                    _cogl_bitmap_get_height (src_bmp),
-                                    _cogl_bitmap_get_rowstride (src_bmp),
-                                    (CoglBitmapDestroyNotify) g_free,
-                                    NULL);
+      dst_bmp = _cogl_bitmap_copy (src_bmp);
 
       if (!_cogl_bitmap_convert_premult_status (dst_bmp,
                                                 src_format ^