diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
index 71068b693..6c0597162 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_image.cpp
@@ -79,8 +79,7 @@ PyObject* tostring1( image_32 const& im)
 // encode (png,jpeg)
 PyObject* tostring2(image_32 const & im, std::string const& format)
 {
-    mapnik::rgba_palette pal;
-    std::string s = save_to_string(im, format, pal);
+    std::string s = save_to_string(im, format);
     return
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03000000 
         ::PyBytes_FromStringAndSize
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_image_view.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_image_view.cpp
index 7ff819e34..3c1d9ebf9 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_image_view.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_image_view.cpp
@@ -63,8 +63,7 @@ PyObject* view_tostring1(image_view<image_data_32> const& view)
 // encode (png,jpeg)
 PyObject* view_tostring2(image_view<image_data_32> const & view, std::string const& format)
 {
-    mapnik::rgba_palette pal;
-    std::string s = save_to_string(view, format, pal);
+    std::string s = save_to_string(view, format);
     return 
 #if PY_VERSION_HEX >= 0x03000000
         ::PyBytes_FromStringAndSize