diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 8b6c9e55d..3c95c001c 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -45,6 +45,9 @@ install:
   # openjpeg
   - pushd depends && ./install_openjpeg.sh && popd
 
+  # libimagequant
+  - pushd depends && ./install_imagequant.sh && popd
+
 script:
   - if [ "$TRAVIS_PYTHON_VERSION" != "nightly" ]; then coverage erase; fi
   - python setup.py clean
diff --git a/PIL/Image.py b/PIL/Image.py
index 28a76882b..7479865e9 100644
--- a/PIL/Image.py
+++ b/PIL/Image.py
@@ -185,6 +185,7 @@ ADAPTIVE = 1
 MEDIANCUT = 0
 MAXCOVERAGE = 1
 FASTOCTREE = 2
+LIBIMAGEQUANT = 3
 
 # categories
 NORMAL = 0
@@ -961,6 +962,7 @@ class Image(object):
         :param method: 0 = median cut
                        1 = maximum coverage
                        2 = fast octree
+                       3 = libimagequant
         :param kmeans: Integer
         :param palette: Quantize to the :py:class:`PIL.ImagingPalette` palette.
         :returns: A new image
@@ -975,10 +977,11 @@ class Image(object):
             if self.mode == 'RGBA':
                 method = 2
 
-        if self.mode == 'RGBA' and method != 2:
+        if self.mode == 'RGBA' and method not in (2, 3):
             # Caller specified an invalid mode.
-            raise ValueError('Fast Octree (method == 2) is the ' +
-                             ' only valid method for quantizing RGBA images')
+            raise ValueError(
+                'Fast Octree (method == 2) and libimagequant (method == 3) ' +
+                'are the only valid methods for quantizing RGBA images')
 
         if palette:
             # use palette from reference image
diff --git a/Tests/test_image_quantize.py b/Tests/test_image_quantize.py
index 986a0a6cc..6ecc8dd7d 100644
--- a/Tests/test_image_quantize.py
+++ b/Tests/test_image_quantize.py
@@ -6,31 +6,46 @@ from PIL import Image
 class TestImageQuantize(PillowTestCase):
 
     def test_sanity(self):
-        im = hopper()
+        image = hopper()
+        converted = image.quantize()
+        self.assert_image(converted, 'P', converted.size)
+        self.assert_image_similar(converted.convert('RGB'), image, 10)
 
-        im = im.quantize()
-        self.assert_image(im, "P", im.size)
+        image = hopper()
+        converted = image.quantize(palette=hopper('P'))
+        self.assert_image(converted, 'P', converted.size)
+        self.assert_image_similar(converted.convert('RGB'), image, 60)
 
-        im = hopper()
-        im = im.quantize(palette=hopper("P"))
-        self.assert_image(im, "P", im.size)
+    def test_libimagequant_quantize(self):
+        image = hopper()
+        try:
+            converted = image.quantize(100, Image.LIBIMAGEQUANT)
+        except ValueError as ex:
+            if 'dependency' in str(ex).lower():
+                self.skipTest('libimagequant support not available')
+            else:
+                raise
+        self.assert_image(converted, 'P', converted.size)
+        self.assert_image_similar(converted.convert('RGB'), image, 15)
+        assert len(converted.getcolors()) == 100
 
     def test_octree_quantize(self):
-        im = hopper()
-
-        im = im.quantize(100, Image.FASTOCTREE)
-        self.assert_image(im, "P", im.size)
-
-        assert len(im.getcolors()) == 100
+        image = hopper()
+        converted = image.quantize(100, Image.FASTOCTREE)
+        self.assert_image(converted, 'P', converted.size)
+        self.assert_image_similar(converted.convert('RGB'), image, 20)
+        assert len(converted.getcolors()) == 100
 
     def test_rgba_quantize(self):
-        im = hopper('RGBA')
-        im.quantize()
-        self.assertRaises(Exception, lambda: im.quantize(method=0))
+        image = hopper('RGBA')
+        image.quantize()
+        self.assertRaises(Exception, lambda: image.quantize(method=0))
 
     def test_quantize(self):
-        im = Image.open('Tests/images/caption_6_33_22.png')
-        im.convert('RGB').quantize().convert('RGB')
+        image = Image.open('Tests/images/caption_6_33_22.png').convert('RGB')
+        converted = image.quantize()
+        self.assert_image(converted, 'P', converted.size)
+        self.assert_image_similar(converted.convert('RGB'), image, 1)
 
 
 if __name__ == '__main__':
diff --git a/depends/README.rst b/depends/README.rst
index dd05b86ca..050173679 100644
--- a/depends/README.rst
+++ b/depends/README.rst
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 Depends
 =======
 
-``install_openjpeg.sh`` and ``install_webp.sh`` can be used to
-download, build & install non-packaged dependencies; useful for
+``install_openjpeg.sh``, ``install_webp.sh`` and ``install_imagequant.sh`` can
+be used to download, build & install non-packaged dependencies; useful for
 testing with Travis CI.
 
 The other scripts can be used to install all of the dependencies for
diff --git a/depends/debian_8.2.sh b/depends/debian_8.2.sh
index dd0679a9f..96e6a8e2b 100755
--- a/depends/debian_8.2.sh
+++ b/depends/debian_8.2.sh
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ sudo apt-get -y install libtiff5-dev libjpeg62-turbo-dev zlib1g-dev \
      python-tk python3-tk
 
 ./install_openjpeg.sh
+./install_imagequant.sh
diff --git a/depends/install_imagequant.sh b/depends/install_imagequant.sh
new file mode 100755
index 000000000..dd497dc3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/depends/install_imagequant.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+#!/bin/bash
+# install libimagequant
+
+git clone -b 2.6.0 https://github.com/pornel/pngquant
+
+pushd pngquant
+
+make -C lib shared
+sudo cp lib/libimagequant.so* /usr/lib/
+sudo cp lib/libimagequant.h /usr/include/
+
+popd
diff --git a/depends/ubuntu_12.04.sh b/depends/ubuntu_12.04.sh
index e9b16d2b4..9bfae43b0 100755
--- a/depends/ubuntu_12.04.sh
+++ b/depends/ubuntu_12.04.sh
@@ -14,3 +14,4 @@ sudo apt-get install libtiff4-dev libjpeg8-dev zlib1g-dev \
 
 ./install_openjpeg.sh
 ./install_webp.sh
+./install_imagequant.sh
diff --git a/depends/ubuntu_14.04.sh b/depends/ubuntu_14.04.sh
index 14b9e7066..a548f74fa 100755
--- a/depends/ubuntu_14.04.sh
+++ b/depends/ubuntu_14.04.sh
@@ -12,3 +12,4 @@ sudo apt-get -y install libtiff5-dev libjpeg8-dev zlib1g-dev \
     python-tk python3-tk
 
 ./install_openjpeg.sh
+./install_imagequant.sh
diff --git a/docs/installation.rst b/docs/installation.rst
index 7d4f8735c..022823e7e 100644
--- a/docs/installation.rst
+++ b/docs/installation.rst
@@ -140,6 +140,8 @@ Many of Pillow's features require external libraries:
 
 * **libfreetype** provides type related services
 
+* **libimagequant** provides improved color quantization
+
 * **littlecms** provides color management
 
   * Pillow version 2.2.1 and below uses liblcms1, Pillow 2.3.0 and
@@ -190,17 +192,17 @@ Build Options
 * Build flags: ``--disable-zlib``, ``--disable-jpeg``,
   ``--disable-tiff``, ``--disable-freetype``, ``--disable-tcl``,
   ``--disable-tk``, ``--disable-lcms``, ``--disable-webp``,
-  ``--disable-webpmux``, ``--disable-jpeg2000``. Disable building the
-  corresponding feature even if the development libraries are present
-  on the building machine.
+  ``--disable-webpmux``, ``--disable-jpeg2000``, ``--disable-imagequant``.
+  Disable building the corresponding feature even if the development
+  libraries are present on the building machine.
 
 * Build flags: ``--enable-zlib``, ``--enable-jpeg``,
   ``--enable-tiff``, ``--enable-freetype``, ``--enable-tcl``,
   ``--enable-tk``, ``--enable-lcms``, ``--enable-webp``,
-  ``--enable-webpmux``, ``--enable-jpeg2000``. Require that the
-  corresponding feature is built. The build will raise an exception if
-  the libraries are not found. Webpmux (WebP metadata) relies on WebP
-  support. Tcl and Tk also must be used together.
+  ``--enable-webpmux``, ``--enable-jpeg2000``, ``--enable-imagequant``.
+  Require that the corresponding feature is built. The build will raise
+  an exception if the libraries are not found. Webpmux (WebP metadata)
+  relies on WebP support. Tcl and Tk also must be used together.
 
 * Build flag: ``--disable-platform-guessing``. Skips all of the
   platform dependent guessing of include and library directories for
diff --git a/libImaging/Quant.c b/libImaging/Quant.c
index 5b8a8d994..6c122eee2 100644
--- a/libImaging/Quant.c
+++ b/libImaging/Quant.c
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 
 #include "QuantTypes.h"
 #include "QuantOctree.h"
+#include "QuantPngQuant.h"
 #include "QuantHash.h"
 #include "QuantHeap.h"
 
@@ -1483,8 +1484,8 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
         strcmp(im->mode, "RGB") != 0 && strcmp(im->mode, "RGBA") !=0)
         return ImagingError_ModeError();
 
-    /* only octree supports RGBA */
-    if (!strcmp(im->mode, "RGBA") && mode != 2)
+    /* only octree and imagequant supports RGBA */
+    if (!strcmp(im->mode, "RGBA") && mode != 2 && mode != 3)
        return ImagingError_ModeError();
 
     p = malloc(sizeof(Pixel) * im->xsize * im->ysize);
@@ -1503,8 +1504,10 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
            should be done by a simple copy... */
 
         for (i = y = 0; y < im->ysize; y++)
-            for (x = 0; x < im->xsize; x++, i++)
+            for (x = 0; x < im->xsize; x++, i++) {
                 p[i].c.r = p[i].c.g = p[i].c.b = im->image8[y][x];
+                p[i].c.a = 255;
+            }
 
     } else if (!strcmp(im->mode, "P")) {
         /* palette */
@@ -1517,6 +1520,7 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
                 p[i].c.r = pp[v*4+0];
                 p[i].c.g = pp[v*4+1];
                 p[i].c.b = pp[v*4+2];
+                p[i].c.a = pp[v*4+3];
             }
 
     } else if (!strcmp(im->mode, "RGB") || !strcmp(im->mode, "RGBA")) {
@@ -1572,6 +1576,25 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
             withAlpha
             );
         break;
+    case 3:
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBIMAGEQUANT
+        if (!strcmp(im->mode, "RGBA")) {
+            withAlpha = 1;
+        }
+        result = quantize_pngquant(
+            p,
+            im->xsize,
+            im->ysize,
+            colors,
+            &palette,
+            &paletteLength,
+            &newData,
+            withAlpha
+            );
+#else
+        result = -1;
+#endif
+        break;
     default:
         result = 0;
         break;
@@ -1580,7 +1603,7 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
     free(p);
     ImagingSectionLeave(&cookie);
 
-    if (result) {
+    if (result > 0) {
         imOut = ImagingNew("P", im->xsize, im->ysize);
         ImagingSectionEnter(&cookie);
 
@@ -1620,6 +1643,12 @@ ImagingQuantize(Imaging im, int colors, int mode, int kmeans)
 
     } else {
 
+        if (result == -1) {
+            return (Imaging) ImagingError_ValueError(
+                "dependency required by this method was not "
+                "enabled at compile time");
+        }
+
         return (Imaging) ImagingError_ValueError("quantization error");
 
     }
diff --git a/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.c b/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.c
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..a9a547540
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.c
@@ -0,0 +1,110 @@
+/*
+ * The Python Imaging Library
+ * $Id$
+ *
+ * quantization using libimagequant, a part of pngquant.
+ *
+ * Copyright (c) 2016 Marcin Kurczewski <rr-@sakuya.pl>
+ *
+ */
+
+#include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
+#include <string.h>
+
+#include "QuantPngQuant.h"
+
+#ifdef HAVE_LIBIMAGEQUANT
+#include "libimagequant.h"
+
+int
+quantize_pngquant(
+    Pixel *pixelData,
+    int width,
+    int height,
+    uint32_t quantPixels,
+    Pixel **palette,
+    uint32_t *paletteLength,
+    uint32_t **quantizedPixels,
+    int withAlpha)
+{
+    int result = 0;
+    liq_image *image = NULL;
+    liq_attr *attr = NULL;
+    liq_result *remap = NULL;
+    unsigned char *charMatrix = NULL;
+    unsigned char **charMatrixRows = NULL;
+    unsigned int i, y;
+    *palette = NULL;
+    *paletteLength = 0;
+    *quantizedPixels = NULL;
+
+    /* configure pngquant */
+    attr = liq_attr_create();
+    if (!attr) { goto err; }
+    if (quantPixels) {
+        liq_set_max_colors(attr, quantPixels);
+    }
+
+    /* prepare input image */
+    image = liq_image_create_rgba(
+        attr,
+        pixelData,
+        width,
+        height,
+        0.45455 /* gamma */);
+    if (!image) { goto err; }
+
+    /* quantize the image */
+    remap = liq_quantize_image(attr, image);
+    if (!remap) { goto err; }
+    liq_set_output_gamma(remap, 0.45455);
+    liq_set_dithering_level(remap, 1);
+
+    /* write output palette */
+    const liq_palette *l_palette = liq_get_palette(remap);
+    *paletteLength = l_palette->count;
+    *palette = malloc(sizeof(Pixel) * l_palette->count);
+    if (!*palette) { goto err; }
+    for (i = 0; i < l_palette->count; i++) {
+        (*palette)[i].c.b = l_palette->entries[i].b;
+        (*palette)[i].c.g = l_palette->entries[i].g;
+        (*palette)[i].c.r = l_palette->entries[i].r;
+        (*palette)[i].c.a = l_palette->entries[i].a;
+    }
+
+    /* write output pixels (pngquant uses char array) */
+    charMatrix = malloc(width * height);
+    if (!charMatrix) { goto err; }
+    charMatrixRows = malloc(height * sizeof(unsigned char*));
+    if (!charMatrixRows) { goto err; }
+    for (y = 0; y < height; y++) {
+        charMatrixRows[y] = &charMatrix[y * width];
+    }
+    if (LIQ_OK != liq_write_remapped_image_rows(remap, image, charMatrixRows)) {
+        goto err;
+    }
+
+    /* transcribe output pixels (pillow uses uint32_t array) */
+    *quantizedPixels = malloc(sizeof(uint32_t) * width * height);
+    if (!*quantizedPixels) { goto err; }
+    for (i = 0; i < width * height; i++) {
+        (*quantizedPixels)[i] = charMatrix[i];
+    }
+
+    result = 1;
+
+err:
+    if (attr) liq_attr_destroy(attr);
+    if (image) liq_image_destroy(image);
+    if (remap) liq_result_destroy(remap);
+    free(charMatrix);
+    free(charMatrixRows);
+    if (!result)  {
+        free(*quantizedPixels);
+        free(*palette);
+    }
+    return result;
+}
+
+#endif
diff --git a/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.h b/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.h
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d539a7a0d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/libImaging/QuantPngQuant.h
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+#ifndef __QUANT_PNGQUANT_H__
+#define __QUANT_PNGQUANT_H__
+
+#include "QuantTypes.h"
+
+int quantize_pngquant(Pixel *,
+    int,
+    int,
+    uint32_t,
+    Pixel **,
+    uint32_t *,
+    uint32_t **,
+    int);
+
+#endif
diff --git a/setup.py b/setup.py
index 247af5508..76e2dfc97 100644
--- a/setup.py
+++ b/setup.py
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@ _LIB_IMAGING = (
     "RankFilter", "RawDecode", "RawEncode", "Storage", "SunRleDecode",
     "TgaRleDecode", "Unpack", "UnpackYCC", "UnsharpMask", "XbmDecode",
     "XbmEncode", "ZipDecode", "ZipEncode", "TiffDecode", "Incremental",
-    "Jpeg2KDecode", "Jpeg2KEncode", "BoxBlur")
+    "Jpeg2KDecode", "Jpeg2KEncode", "BoxBlur", "QuantPngQuant")
 
 DEBUG = False
 
@@ -115,6 +115,7 @@ TCL_ROOT = None
 JPEG_ROOT = None
 JPEG2K_ROOT = None
 ZLIB_ROOT = None
+IMAGEQUANT_ROOT = None
 TIFF_ROOT = None
 FREETYPE_ROOT = None
 LCMS_ROOT = None
@@ -123,7 +124,7 @@ LCMS_ROOT = None
 class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
     class feature:
         features = ['zlib', 'jpeg', 'tiff', 'freetype', 'tcl', 'tk', 'lcms',
-                    'webp', 'webpmux', 'jpeg2000']
+                    'webp', 'webpmux', 'jpeg2000', 'imagequant']
 
         required = set(['jpeg', 'zlib'])
 
@@ -193,7 +194,7 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
         # add configured kits
 
         for root in (TCL_ROOT, JPEG_ROOT, JPEG2K_ROOT, TIFF_ROOT, ZLIB_ROOT,
-                     FREETYPE_ROOT, LCMS_ROOT):
+                     FREETYPE_ROOT, LCMS_ROOT, IMAGEQUANT_ROOT):
             if isinstance(root, type(())):
                 lib_root, include_root = root
             else:
@@ -490,6 +491,14 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
                 feature.openjpeg_version = '.'.join([str(x) for x in
                                                      best_version])
 
+        if feature.want('imagequant'):
+            _dbg('Looking for imagequant')
+            if _find_include_file(self, 'libimagequant.h'):
+                if _find_library_file(self, "imagequant"):
+                    feature.imagequant = "imagequant"
+                elif _find_library_file(self, "libimagequant"):
+                    feature.imagequant = "libimagequant"
+
         if feature.want('tiff'):
             _dbg('Looking for tiff')
             if _find_include_file(self, 'tiff.h'):
@@ -603,6 +612,9 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
         if feature.zlib:
             libs.append(feature.zlib)
             defs.append(("HAVE_LIBZ", None))
+        if feature.imagequant:
+            libs.append(feature.imagequant)
+            defs.append(("HAVE_LIBIMAGEQUANT", None))
         if feature.tiff:
             libs.append(feature.tiff)
             defs.append(("HAVE_LIBTIFF", None))
@@ -710,6 +722,7 @@ class pil_build_ext(build_ext):
             (feature.jpeg2000, "OPENJPEG (JPEG2000)",
              feature.openjpeg_version),
             (feature.zlib, "ZLIB (PNG/ZIP)"),
+            (feature.imagequant, "LIBIMAGEQUANT"),
             (feature.tiff, "LIBTIFF"),
             (feature.freetype, "FREETYPE2"),
             (feature.lcms, "LITTLECMS2"),
diff --git a/winbuild/README.md b/winbuild/README.md
index 918fb2ba3..89d60de62 100644
--- a/winbuild/README.md
+++ b/winbuild/README.md
@@ -15,4 +15,4 @@ For more extensive info, see the windows build instructions `docs/build.rst`.
 * `python test.py` runs the tests on Pillow in all the virtual envs.
 *  Currently working with zlib, libjpeg, freetype, and libtiff on Python 2.7, 3.3, and 3.4, both 32 and 64 bit, on a local win7 pro machine and appveyor.com
 * Webp is built, not detected.
-* LCMS and OpenJpeg are not building.
+* LCMS, OpenJpeg and libimagequant are not building.