diff --git a/clients/desktop-shell.c b/clients/desktop-shell.c
index a1cf51df..bd0032a7 100644
--- a/clients/desktop-shell.c
+++ b/clients/desktop-shell.c
@@ -1101,8 +1101,6 @@ background_create(struct desktop *desktop)
 	window_set_user_data(background->window, background);
 	widget_set_redraw_handler(background->widget, background_draw);
 	widget_set_transparent(background->widget, 0);
-	window_set_preferred_format(background->window,
-				    WINDOW_PREFERRED_FORMAT_RGB565);
 
 	s = weston_config_get_section(desktop->config, "shell", NULL, NULL);
 	weston_config_section_get_string(s, "background-image",