diff --git a/apps/gui/icon.c b/apps/gui/icon.c
index 4c006f947a..d24d8bb677 100644
--- a/apps/gui/icon.c
+++ b/apps/gui/icon.c
@@ -189,7 +189,7 @@ static void load_icons(const char* filename, enum Iconset iconset,
                         enum screen_type screen)
 {
     int size_read;
-    int bmpformat = (FORMAT_NATIVE|FORMAT_DITHER);
+    int bmpformat = (FORMAT_NATIVE|FORMAT_DITHER|FORMAT_TRANSPARENT);
     struct iconset *ic = &iconsets[iconset][screen];
     int fd;
     
@@ -217,6 +217,9 @@ static void load_icons(const char* filename, enum Iconset iconset,
         size_read = read_bmp_fd(fd, &ic->bmp, buf_size, bmpformat, NULL);
         ic->handle_locked = 0;
 
+        /* free unused alpha channel, if any */
+        core_shrink(ic->handle, ic->bmp.data, size_read);
+
         if (size_read <= 0)
             ic->handle = core_free(ic->handle);
         else
diff --git a/apps/gui/skin_engine/skin_parser.c b/apps/gui/skin_engine/skin_parser.c
index d207a1fb3e..8eef1dedee 100644
--- a/apps/gui/skin_engine/skin_parser.c
+++ b/apps/gui/skin_engine/skin_parser.c
@@ -1577,6 +1577,8 @@ static int load_skin_bmp(struct wps_data *wps_data, struct bitmap *bitmap, char*
     close(fd);
     if (ret > 0)
     {
+        /* free unused alpha channel, if any */
+        core_shrink(handle, core_get_data(handle), ret);
         return handle;
     }
     else