diff --git a/include/mapnik/marker_helpers.hpp b/include/mapnik/marker_helpers.hpp
index 88c6377e6..41431a177 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/marker_helpers.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/marker_helpers.hpp
@@ -114,17 +114,18 @@ struct vector_markers_rasterizer_dispatch
             }
             agg::trans_affine matrix = marker_trans_;
             matrix.translate(x,y);
+            if (snap_to_pixels_)
+            {
+                // https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/issues/1316
+                matrix.tx = std::floor(matrix.tx+.5);
+                matrix.ty = std::floor(matrix.ty+.5);
+            }
+            // TODO https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/issues/1754
             box2d<double> transformed_bbox = bbox_ * matrix;
 
             if (sym_.get_allow_overlap() ||
                 detector_.has_placement(transformed_bbox))
             {
-                if (snap_to_pixels_)
-                {
-                    // https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/issues/1316
-                    matrix.tx = std::floor(matrix.tx+.5);
-                    matrix.ty = std::floor(matrix.ty+.5);
-                }
                 svg_renderer_.render(ras_, sl_, renb_, matrix, sym_.get_opacity(), bbox_);
                 if (!sym_.get_ignore_placement())
                 {
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index 36fca224d..9e188d8de 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -111,7 +111,7 @@ private:
     void find_unused_nodes_recursive(xml_node const& node, std::string & error_text);
 
 
-    std::string ensure_relative_to_xml(boost::optional<std::string> opt_path);
+    std::string ensure_relative_to_xml(boost::optional<std::string> const& opt_path);
     void ensure_exists(std::string const& file_path);
     boost::optional<color> get_opt_color_attr(boost::property_tree::ptree const& node,
                                               std::string const& name);
@@ -1635,7 +1635,7 @@ void map_parser::ensure_font_face(std::string const& face_name)
     }
 }
 
-std::string map_parser::ensure_relative_to_xml(boost::optional<std::string> opt_path)
+std::string map_parser::ensure_relative_to_xml(boost::optional<std::string> const& opt_path)
 {
     if (marker_cache::instance().is_uri(*opt_path))
         return *opt_path;
diff --git a/tests/python_tests/palette_test.py b/tests/python_tests/palette_test.py
index edc64d55a..caa50d604 100644
--- a/tests/python_tests/palette_test.py
+++ b/tests/python_tests/palette_test.py
@@ -40,9 +40,9 @@ def test_render_with_palette():
     # test saving to a string
     open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test2.png','wb').write(im.tostring('png',palette));
     # compare the two methods
-    eq_(mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring(),mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test2.png').tostring())
+    eq_(mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring(),mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test2.png').tostring(),'%s not eq to %s' % ('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png','/tmp/mapnik-palette-test2.png'))
     # compare to expected
-    eq_(mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring(),mapnik.Image.open('./images/support/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring())
+    eq_(mapnik.Image.open('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring(),mapnik.Image.open('./images/support/mapnik-palette-test.png').tostring(),'%s not eq to %s' % ('/tmp/mapnik-palette-test.png','./images/support/mapnik-palette-test.png'))
 
 if __name__ == "__main__":
     setup()