diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
index 480c61bae..ad6c7ce62 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer-private.h
@@ -39,6 +39,9 @@ struct _CoglFramebuffer
   CoglFramebufferType  type;
   int                 width;
   int                 height;
+  /* Format of the pixels in the framebuffer (including the expected
+     premult state) */
+  CoglPixelFormat     format;
 
   CoglMatrixStack    *modelview_stack;
   CoglMatrixStack    *projection_stack;
diff --git a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
index c8bf9cc70..b65dae730 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl-framebuffer.c
@@ -139,12 +139,14 @@ _cogl_is_framebuffer (void *object)
 static void
 _cogl_framebuffer_init (CoglFramebuffer *framebuffer,
                         CoglFramebufferType type,
+                        CoglPixelFormat format,
                         int width,
                         int height)
 {
   framebuffer->type             = type;
   framebuffer->width            = width;
   framebuffer->height           = height;
+  framebuffer->format           = format;
   framebuffer->viewport_x       = 0;
   framebuffer->viewport_y       = 0;
   framebuffer->viewport_width   = width;
@@ -540,6 +542,7 @@ _cogl_offscreen_new_to_texture_full (CoglHandle texhandle,
     {
       _cogl_framebuffer_init (COGL_FRAMEBUFFER (offscreen),
                               COGL_FRAMEBUFFER_TYPE_OFFSCREEN,
+                              cogl_texture_get_format (texhandle),
                               data.level_width,
                               data.level_height);
 
@@ -594,9 +597,21 @@ _cogl_onscreen_new (void)
    * implement CoglOnscreen framebuffers, since we can't, e.g. keep track of
    * the window size. */
 
+  /* FIXME: We are assuming onscreen buffers will always be
+     premultiplied so we'll set the premult flag on the bitmap
+     format. This will usually be correct because the result of the
+     default blending operations for Cogl ends up with premultiplied
+     data in the framebuffer. However it is possible for the
+     framebuffer to be in whatever format depending on what
+     CoglPipeline is used to render to it. Eventually we may want to
+     add a way for an application to inform Cogl that the framebuffer
+     is not premultiplied in case it is being used for some special
+     purpose. */
+
   onscreen = g_new0 (CoglOnscreen, 1);
   _cogl_framebuffer_init (COGL_FRAMEBUFFER (onscreen),
                           COGL_FRAMEBUFFER_TYPE_ONSCREEN,
+                          COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888_PRE,
                           0xdeadbeef, /* width */
                           0xdeadbeef); /* height */
 
diff --git a/cogl/cogl.c b/cogl/cogl.c
index 7cc2d66d7..ce8326955 100644
--- a/cogl/cogl.c
+++ b/cogl/cogl.c
@@ -603,17 +603,14 @@ _cogl_read_pixels_with_rowstride (int x,
 
   if ((format & COGL_A_BIT))
     {
-      /* FIXME: We are assuming glReadPixels will always give us
-         premultiplied data so we'll set the premult flag on the
-         bitmap format. This will usually be correct because the
-         result of the default blending operations for Cogl ends up
-         with premultiplied data in the framebuffer. However it is
-         possible for the framebuffer to be in whatever format
-         depending on what CoglPipeline is used to render to
-         it. Eventually we may want to add a way for an application to
-         inform Cogl that the framebuffer is not premultiplied in case
-         it is being used for some special purpose. */
-      bmp_format |= COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
+      /* We match the premultiplied state of the target buffer to the
+       * premultiplied state of the framebuffer so that it will get
+       * converted to the right format below */
+
+      if ((framebuffer->format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT))
+        bmp_format |= COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
+      else
+        bmp_format &= ~COGL_PREMULT_BIT;
     }
 
   bmp = _cogl_bitmap_new_from_data (pixels,
@@ -640,7 +637,8 @@ _cogl_read_pixels_with_rowstride (int x,
       guint8 *tmp_data = g_malloc (width * height * 4);
 
       tmp_bmp = _cogl_bitmap_new_from_data (tmp_data,
-                                            COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888_PRE,
+                                            COGL_PIXEL_FORMAT_RGBA_8888 |
+                                            (bmp_format & COGL_PREMULT_BIT),
                                             width, height, 4 * width,
                                             (CoglBitmapDestroyNotify) g_free,
                                             NULL);