diff --git a/include/mapnik/raster_colorizer.hpp b/include/mapnik/raster_colorizer.hpp
index 8a743e2d7..d7dbf65ad 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/raster_colorizer.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/raster_colorizer.hpp
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ public:
     //!
     //! \param[in] value Input value
     //! \return color associated with the value
-    color get_color(float value) const;
+    unsigned get_color(float value) const;
 
 
     //! \brief Set the epsilon value for exact mode
diff --git a/src/raster_colorizer.cpp b/src/raster_colorizer.cpp
index dd1dd126a..6bc0c052b 100644
--- a/src/raster_colorizer.cpp
+++ b/src/raster_colorizer.cpp
@@ -138,7 +138,7 @@ void raster_colorizer::colorize(raster_ptr const& raster, feature_impl const& f)
         }
         else
         {
-            imageData[i] = get_color(value).rgba();
+            imageData[i] = get_color(value);
         }
     }
 }
@@ -148,14 +148,14 @@ inline unsigned interpolate(unsigned start, unsigned end, float fraction)
     return static_cast<unsigned>(fraction * ((float)end - (float)start) + start);
 }
 
-color raster_colorizer::get_color(float value) const
+unsigned raster_colorizer::get_color(float value) const
 {
     int stopCount = stops_.size();
 
     //use default color if no stops
     if(stopCount == 0)
     {
-        return default_color_;
+        return default_color_.rgba();
     }
 
     //1 - Find the stop that the value is in
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ color raster_colorizer::get_color(float value) const
       MAPNIK_LOG_DEBUG(raster_colorizer) << "\toutputColor: " << outputColor.to_string();
     */
 
-    return outputColor;
+    return outputColor.rgba();
 }