diff --git a/src/dec/frame.c b/src/dec/frame.c
index 00c735af..396cc369 100644
--- a/src/dec/frame.c
+++ b/src/dec/frame.c
@@ -365,7 +365,7 @@ int VP8FinishRow(VP8Decoder* const dec, VP8Io* io) {
       y_end = io->crop_bottom;    // make sure we don't overflow on last row.
     }
     io->a = NULL;
-    if (dec->alpha_data_) {
+    if (dec->alpha_data_ && y_start < y_end) {
       io->a = VP8DecompressAlphaRows(dec, y_start, y_end - y_start);
       if (io->a == NULL) {
         return VP8SetError(dec, VP8_STATUS_BITSTREAM_ERROR,
diff --git a/src/dec/io.c b/src/dec/io.c
index d05e971b..14b2233e 100644
--- a/src/dec/io.c
+++ b/src/dec/io.c
@@ -51,7 +51,9 @@ static int EmitSampledRGB(const VP8Io* const io, WebPDecParams* const p) {
   const uint8_t* y_src = io->y;
   const uint8_t* u_src = io->u;
   const uint8_t* v_src = io->v;
-  const WebPSampleLinePairFunc sample = WebPSamplers[output->colorspace];
+  const WebPSampleLinePairFunc sample =
+      io->a ? WebPSamplersKeepAlpha[output->colorspace]
+            : WebPSamplers[output->colorspace];
   const int mb_w = io->mb_w;
   const int last = io->mb_h - 1;
   int j;
@@ -185,12 +187,34 @@ static int EmitAlphaRGB(const VP8Io* const io, WebPDecParams* const p) {
   const int mb_h = io->mb_h;
   int i, j;
   const WebPRGBABuffer* const buf = &p->output->u.RGBA;
-  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + io->mb_y * buf->stride;
+  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + io->mb_y * buf->stride +
+                 (p->output->colorspace == MODE_ARGB ? 0 : 3);
   const uint8_t* alpha = io->a;
   if (alpha) {
     for (j = 0; j < mb_h; ++j) {
       for (i = 0; i < mb_w; ++i) {
-        dst[4 * i + 3] = alpha[i];
+        dst[4 * i] = alpha[i];
+      }
+      alpha += io->width;
+      dst += buf->stride;
+    }
+  }
+  return 0;
+}
+
+static int EmitAlphaRGBA4444(const VP8Io* const io, WebPDecParams* const p) {
+  const int mb_w = io->mb_w;
+  const int mb_h = io->mb_h;
+  int i, j;
+  const WebPRGBABuffer* const buf = &p->output->u.RGBA;
+  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + io->mb_y * buf->stride + 1;
+  const uint8_t* alpha = io->a;
+  if (alpha) {
+    for (j = 0; j < mb_h; ++j) {
+      for (i = 0; i < mb_w; ++i) {
+        // Fill in the alpha value (converted to 4 bits).
+        const uint8_t alpha_val = (alpha[i] + 8) >> 4;
+        dst[2 * i] = (dst[2 * i] & 0xf0) | alpha_val;
       }
       alpha += io->width;
       dst += buf->stride;
@@ -440,14 +464,34 @@ static int EmitRescaledRGB(const VP8Io* const io, WebPDecParams* const p) {
 
 static int ExportAlpha(WebPDecParams* const p, int y_pos) {
   const WebPRGBABuffer* const buf = &p->output->u.RGBA;
-  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + (p->last_y + y_pos) * buf->stride;
+  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + (p->last_y + y_pos) * buf->stride +
+                 (p->output->colorspace == MODE_ARGB ? 0 : 3);
   int num_lines_out = 0;
   while (p->scaler_a.y_accum <= 0) {
     int i;
     assert(p->last_y + y_pos + num_lines_out < p->output->height);
     ExportRow(&p->scaler_a);
     for (i = 0; i < p->scaler_a.dst_width; ++i) {
-      dst[4 * i + 3] = p->scaler_a.dst[i];
+      dst[4 * i] = p->scaler_a.dst[i];
+    }
+    dst += buf->stride;
+    num_lines_out++;
+  }
+  return num_lines_out;
+}
+
+static int ExportAlphaRGBA4444(WebPDecParams* const p, int y_pos) {
+  const WebPRGBABuffer* const buf = &p->output->u.RGBA;
+  uint8_t* dst = buf->rgba + (p->last_y + y_pos) * buf->stride + 1;
+  int num_lines_out = 0;
+  while (p->scaler_a.y_accum <= 0) {
+    int i;
+    assert(p->last_y + y_pos + num_lines_out < p->output->height);
+    ExportRow(&p->scaler_a);
+    for (i = 0; i < p->scaler_a.dst_width; ++i) {
+      // Fill in the alpha value (converted to 4 bits).
+      const uint8_t alpha_val = (p->scaler_a.dst[i] + 8) >> 4;
+      dst[2 * i] = (dst[2 * i] & 0xf0) | alpha_val;
     }
     dst += buf->stride;
     num_lines_out++;
@@ -460,7 +504,8 @@ static int EmitRescaledAlphaRGB(const VP8Io* const io, WebPDecParams* const p) {
     int j = 0, pos = 0;
     while (j < io->mb_h) {
       j += Import(io->a + j * io->width, io->width, io->mb_h - j, &p->scaler_a);
-      pos += ExportAlpha(p, pos);
+      pos += (p->output->colorspace == MODE_RGBA_4444) ?
+              ExportAlphaRGBA4444(p, pos) : ExportAlpha(p, pos);
     }
   }
   return 0;
@@ -608,7 +653,9 @@ static int CustomSetup(VP8Io* io) {
     }
     if (IsAlphaMode(p->output->colorspace)) {
       // We need transparency output
-      p->emit_alpha = is_rgb ? EmitAlphaRGB : EmitAlphaYUV;
+      p->emit_alpha =
+          is_rgb ? (p->output->colorspace == MODE_RGBA_4444 ?
+              EmitAlphaRGBA4444 : EmitAlphaRGB) : EmitAlphaYUV;
     }
   }
 
diff --git a/src/dec/vp8.c b/src/dec/vp8.c
index ef119e85..3c1457e0 100644
--- a/src/dec/vp8.c
+++ b/src/dec/vp8.c
@@ -249,6 +249,8 @@ static int ParseFilterHeader(VP8BitReader* br, VP8Decoder* const dec) {
 int VP8GetHeaders(VP8Decoder* const dec, VP8Io* const io) {
   const uint8_t* buf;
   uint32_t buf_size;
+  const uint8_t* alpha_data_tmp;
+  uint32_t alpha_size_tmp;
   uint32_t vp8_chunk_size;
   uint32_t bytes_skipped;
   VP8FrameHeader* frm_hdr;
@@ -270,10 +272,19 @@ int VP8GetHeaders(VP8Decoder* const dec, VP8Io* const io) {
 
   // Process Pre-VP8 chunks.
   status = WebPParseHeaders(&buf, &buf_size, &vp8_chunk_size, &bytes_skipped,
-                            &dec->alpha_data_, &dec->alpha_data_size_);
+                            &alpha_data_tmp, &alpha_size_tmp);
   if (status != VP8_STATUS_OK) {
     return VP8SetError(dec, status, "Incorrect/incomplete header.");
   }
+  if (dec->alpha_data_ == NULL) {
+    assert(dec->alpha_data_size_ == 0);
+    // We have NOT set alpha data yet. Set it now.
+    // (This is to ensure that dec->alpha_data_ is NOT reset to NULL if
+    // WebPParseHeaders() is called more than once, as in incremental decoding
+    // case.)
+    dec->alpha_data_ = alpha_data_tmp;
+    dec->alpha_data_size_ = alpha_size_tmp;
+  }
 
   // Process the VP8 frame header.
   if (buf_size < 4) {
diff --git a/src/dsp/dsp.h b/src/dsp/dsp.h
index aa6fd3dd..725a2c8e 100644
--- a/src/dsp/dsp.h
+++ b/src/dsp/dsp.h
@@ -155,6 +155,7 @@ typedef void (*WebPSampleLinePairFunc)(
     uint8_t* top_dst, uint8_t* bottom_dst, int len);
 
 extern const WebPSampleLinePairFunc WebPSamplers[/* MODE_LAST */];
+extern const WebPSampleLinePairFunc WebPSamplersKeepAlpha[/* MODE_LAST */];
 
 // YUV444->RGB converters
 typedef void (*WebPYUV444Converter)(const uint8_t* y,
diff --git a/src/dsp/upsampling.c b/src/dsp/upsampling.c
index c88a17ad..98168642 100644
--- a/src/dsp/upsampling.c
+++ b/src/dsp/upsampling.c
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@ UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleBgraLinePair, VP8YuvToBgra, 4)
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleArgbLinePair, VP8YuvToArgb, 4)
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleRgba4444LinePair, VP8YuvToRgba4444, 2)
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleRgb565LinePair,  VP8YuvToRgb565,  2)
-// These two don't erase the alpha value
+// These variants don't erase the alpha value
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleRgbKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToRgb, 4)
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleBgrKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToBgr, 4)
 UPSAMPLE_FUNC(UpsampleArgbKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToArgbKeepA, 4)
@@ -146,6 +146,11 @@ SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleBgraLinePair,     VP8YuvToBgra, 4)
 SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleArgbLinePair,     VP8YuvToArgb, 4)
 SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleRgba4444LinePair, VP8YuvToRgba4444, 2)
 SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleRgb565LinePair,   VP8YuvToRgb565, 2)
+// These variants don't erase the alpha value
+SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleRgbKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToRgb, 4)
+SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleBgrKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToBgr, 4)
+SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleArgbKeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToArgbKeepA, 4)
+SAMPLE_FUNC(SampleRgba4444KeepAlphaLinePair, VP8YuvToRgba4444KeepA, 2)
 
 #undef SAMPLE_FUNC
 
@@ -159,6 +164,16 @@ const WebPSampleLinePairFunc WebPSamplers[MODE_LAST] = {
   SampleRgb565LinePair     // MODE_RGB_565
 };
 
+const WebPSampleLinePairFunc WebPSamplersKeepAlpha[MODE_LAST] = {
+  SampleRgbLinePair,                // MODE_RGB
+  SampleRgbKeepAlphaLinePair,       // MODE_RGBA
+  SampleBgrLinePair,                // MODE_BGR
+  SampleBgrKeepAlphaLinePair,       // MODE_BGRA
+  SampleArgbKeepAlphaLinePair,      // MODE_ARGB
+  SampleRgba4444KeepAlphaLinePair,  // MODE_RGBA_4444
+  SampleRgb565LinePair              // MODE_RGB_565
+};
+
 //------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // YUV444 converter