diff --git a/tests/conform/test-utils.c b/tests/conform/test-utils.c
index b39dd1136..99d692613 100644
--- a/tests/conform/test-utils.c
+++ b/tests/conform/test-utils.c
@@ -173,6 +173,29 @@ compare_component (int a, int b)
   return ABS (a - b) <= 1;
 }
 
+void
+test_utils_compare_pixel_and_alpha (const uint8_t *screen_pixel,
+                                    uint32_t expected_pixel)
+{
+  /* Compare each component with a small fuzz factor */
+  if (!compare_component (screen_pixel[0], expected_pixel >> 24) ||
+      !compare_component (screen_pixel[1], (expected_pixel >> 16) & 0xff) ||
+      !compare_component (screen_pixel[2], (expected_pixel >> 8) & 0xff) ||
+      !compare_component (screen_pixel[3], (expected_pixel >> 0) & 0xff))
+    {
+      uint32_t screen_pixel_num = GUINT32_FROM_BE (*(uint32_t *) screen_pixel);
+      char *screen_pixel_string =
+        g_strdup_printf ("#%08x", screen_pixel_num);
+      char *expected_pixel_string =
+        g_strdup_printf ("#%08x", expected_pixel);
+
+      g_assert_cmpstr (screen_pixel_string, ==, expected_pixel_string);
+
+      g_free (screen_pixel_string);
+      g_free (expected_pixel_string);
+    }
+}
+
 void
 test_utils_compare_pixel (const uint8_t *screen_pixel, uint32_t expected_pixel)
 {
diff --git a/tests/conform/test-utils.h b/tests/conform/test-utils.h
index e698f3248..3f9cdc6ae 100644
--- a/tests/conform/test-utils.h
+++ b/tests/conform/test-utils.h
@@ -102,6 +102,19 @@ test_utils_check_region (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
 void
 test_utils_compare_pixel (const uint8_t *screen_pixel, uint32_t expected_pixel);
 
+/*
+ * test_utils_compare_pixel_and_alpha:
+ * @screen_pixel: A pixel stored in memory
+ * @expected_pixel: The expected RGBA value
+ *
+ * Compares a pixel from a buffer to an expected value. This is
+ * similar to test_utils_compare_pixel() except that it doesn't ignore
+ * the alpha component.
+ */
+void
+test_utils_compare_pixel_and_alpha (const uint8_t *screen_pixel,
+                                    uint32_t expected_pixel);
+
 /*
  * test_utils_create_color_texture:
  * @context: A #CoglContext
diff --git a/tests/conform/test-write-texture-formats.c b/tests/conform/test-write-texture-formats.c
index 03d8a88fa..859f4b4b8 100644
--- a/tests/conform/test-write-texture-formats.c
+++ b/tests/conform/test-write-texture-formats.c
@@ -12,22 +12,14 @@ static void
 test_color (CoglTexture *texture,
             uint32_t expected_pixel)
 {
-  uint32_t received_pixel;
-  char *received_value_str;
-  char *expected_value_str;
+  uint8_t received_pixel[4];
 
   cogl_texture_get_data (texture,
                          COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888_PRE,
                          4, /* rowstride */
-                         (uint8_t *) &received_pixel);
+                         received_pixel);
 
-  received_pixel = GUINT32_FROM_BE (received_pixel);
-
-  received_value_str = g_strdup_printf ("0x%08x", received_pixel);
-  expected_value_str = g_strdup_printf ("0x%08x", expected_pixel);
-  g_assert_cmpstr (received_value_str, ==, expected_value_str);
-  g_free (received_value_str);
-  g_free (expected_value_str);
+  test_utils_compare_pixel_and_alpha (received_pixel, expected_pixel);
 }
 
 static void