diff --git a/javase/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/client/j2se/MatrixToImageConfig.java b/javase/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/client/j2se/MatrixToImageConfig.java
index 66eb71025..d4a563da3 100644
--- a/javase/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/client/j2se/MatrixToImageConfig.java
+++ b/javase/src/main/java/com/google/zxing/client/j2se/MatrixToImageConfig.java
@@ -55,8 +55,20 @@ public final class MatrixToImageConfig {
   }
 
   int getBufferedImageColorModel() {
-    // Use faster BINARY if colors match default
-    return onColor == BLACK && offColor == WHITE ? BufferedImage.TYPE_BYTE_BINARY : BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
+    if (onColor == BLACK && offColor == WHITE) {
+      // Use faster BINARY if colors match default
+      return BufferedImage.TYPE_BYTE_BINARY;
+    }
+    if (hasTransparency(onColor) || hasTransparency(offColor)) {
+      // Use ARGB representation if colors specify non-opaque alpha
+      return BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
+    }
+    // Default otherwise to RGB representation with ignored alpha channel
+    return BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB;
+  }
+
+  private static boolean hasTransparency(int argb) {
+    return (argb & 0xFF000000) != 0xFF000000;
   }
 
 }