diff --git a/src/cairo-deprecated.h b/src/cairo-deprecated.h
index 6397cc4..e1f25bf 100644
--- a/src/cairo-deprecated.h
+++ b/src/cairo-deprecated.h
@@ -36,20 +36,6 @@
 #ifndef CAIRO_DEPRECATED_H
 #define CAIRO_DEPRECATED_H
 
-/* The %CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 value was added in cairo 1.2.0 as part
- * of fixing cairo's xlib backend to work with X servers advertising a
- * 16-bit, 565 visual. But as it turned out, adding this format to
- * #cairo_format_t was not necessary, and was a mistake, (cairo's xlib
- * backend can work fine with 16-bit visuals in the same way it works
- * with BGR visuals without any BGR formats in
- * #cairo_format_t).
- *
- * Additionally, the support for the RGB16_565 format was never
- * completely implemented. So while this format value is currently
- * deprecated, it may eventually acquire complete support in the future.
- */
-#define CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 4
-
 #define CAIRO_FONT_TYPE_ATSUI CAIRO_FONT_TYPE_QUARTZ
 
 /* Obsolete functions. These definitions exist to coerce the compiler
diff --git a/src/cairo-image-surface.c b/src/cairo-image-surface.c
index 099cacf..9b23800 100644
--- a/src/cairo-image-surface.c
+++ b/src/cairo-image-surface.c
@@ -86,8 +86,10 @@ _cairo_format_from_pixman_format (pixman_format_code_t pixman_format)
 	return CAIRO_FORMAT_A8;
     case PIXMAN_a1:
 	return CAIRO_FORMAT_A1;
+    case PIXMAN_r5g6b5:
+	return CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565;
     case PIXMAN_a8b8g8r8: case PIXMAN_x8b8g8r8: case PIXMAN_r8g8b8:
-    case PIXMAN_b8g8r8:   case PIXMAN_r5g6b5:   case PIXMAN_b5g6r5:
+    case PIXMAN_b8g8r8:   case PIXMAN_b5g6r5:
     case PIXMAN_a1r5g5b5: case PIXMAN_x1r5g5b5: case PIXMAN_a1b5g5r5:
     case PIXMAN_x1b5g5r5: case PIXMAN_a4r4g4b4: case PIXMAN_x4r4g4b4:
     case PIXMAN_a4b4g4r4: case PIXMAN_x4b4g4r4: case PIXMAN_r3g3b2:
@@ -276,6 +278,9 @@ _cairo_format_to_pixman_format_code (cairo_format_t format)
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24:
 	ret = PIXMAN_x8r8g8b8;
 	break;
+    case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565:
+	ret = PIXMAN_r5g6b5;
+	break;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32:
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_INVALID:
     default:
@@ -638,6 +643,8 @@ _cairo_content_from_format (cairo_format_t format)
 	return CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR_ALPHA;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24:
 	return CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR;
+    case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565:
+	return CAIRO_CONTENT_COLOR;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_A8:
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_A1:
 	return CAIRO_CONTENT_ALPHA;
@@ -657,6 +664,8 @@ _cairo_format_bits_per_pixel (cairo_format_t format)
 	return 32;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24:
 	return 32;
+    case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565:
+	return 16;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_A8:
 	return 8;
     case CAIRO_FORMAT_A1:
@@ -4426,6 +4435,11 @@ _cairo_image_analyze_transparency (cairo_image_surface_t      *image)
 	    return image->transparency = CAIRO_IMAGE_HAS_ALPHA;
     }
 
+    if (image->format == CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565) {
+	image->transparency = CAIRO_IMAGE_IS_OPAQUE;
+	return CAIRO_IMAGE_IS_OPAQUE;
+    }
+
     if (image->format != CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32)
 	return image->transparency = CAIRO_IMAGE_HAS_ALPHA;
 
diff --git a/src/cairo-xlib-display.c b/src/cairo-xlib-display.c
index f9b9617..69b7c66 100644
--- a/src/cairo-xlib-display.c
+++ b/src/cairo-xlib-display.c
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ struct _cairo_xlib_display {
 
     int render_major;
     int render_minor;
-    XRenderPictFormat *cached_xrender_formats[CAIRO_FORMAT_A1 + 1];
+    XRenderPictFormat *cached_xrender_formats[CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 + 1];
 
     cairo_xlib_job_t *workqueue;
     cairo_freelist_t wq_freelist;
@@ -591,14 +591,36 @@ _cairo_xlib_display_get_xrender_format (cairo_xlib_display_t	*display,
 	    pict_format = PictStandardA8; break;
 	case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24:
 	    pict_format = PictStandardRGB24; break;
+	case CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565: {
+	    Visual *visual = NULL;
+	    Screen *screen = DefaultScreenOfDisplay(display->display);
+	    int j;
+	    for (j = 0; j < screen->ndepths; j++) {
+	        Depth *d = &screen->depths[j];
+	        if (d->depth == 16 && d->nvisuals && &d->visuals[0]) {
+	            if (d->visuals[0].red_mask   == 0xf800 &&
+	                d->visuals[0].green_mask == 0x7e0 &&
+	                d->visuals[0].blue_mask  == 0x1f)
+	                visual = &d->visuals[0];
+	            break;
+	        }
+	    }
+	    if (!visual) {
+	        CAIRO_MUTEX_UNLOCK (display->mutex);
+	        return NULL;
+	    }
+	    xrender_format = XRenderFindVisualFormat(display->display, visual);
+	    break;
+	}
 	case CAIRO_FORMAT_INVALID:
 	default:
 	    ASSERT_NOT_REACHED;
 	case CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32:
 	    pict_format = PictStandardARGB32; break;
 	}
-	xrender_format = XRenderFindStandardFormat (display->display,
-		                                    pict_format);
+	if (!xrender_format)
+	    xrender_format = XRenderFindStandardFormat (display->display,
+		                                        pict_format);
 	display->cached_xrender_formats[format] = xrender_format;
     }
     CAIRO_MUTEX_UNLOCK (display->mutex);
diff --git a/src/cairo.h b/src/cairo.h
index feb564a..6c4faea 100644
--- a/src/cairo.h
+++ b/src/cairo.h
@@ -2277,11 +2277,8 @@ typedef enum _cairo_format {
     CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32    = 0,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB24     = 1,
     CAIRO_FORMAT_A8        = 2,
-    CAIRO_FORMAT_A1        = 3
-    /* The value of 4 is reserved by a deprecated enum value.
-     * The next format added must have an explicit value of 5.
-    CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 = 4,
-    */
+    CAIRO_FORMAT_A1        = 3,
+    CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565 = 4
 } cairo_format_t;
 
 cairo_public cairo_surface_t *
diff --git a/src/cairoint.h b/src/cairoint.h
index 741ccf3..f39b9a1 100644
--- a/src/cairoint.h
+++ b/src/cairoint.h
@@ -2149,7 +2149,7 @@ _cairo_surface_has_device_transform (cairo_surface_t *surface) cairo_pure;
  * in cairo-xlib-surface.c--again see -Wswitch-enum).
  */
 #define CAIRO_FORMAT_VALID(format) ((format) >= CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32 &&		\
-                                    (format) <= CAIRO_FORMAT_A1)
+                                    (format) <= CAIRO_FORMAT_RGB16_565)
 
 /* pixman-required stride alignment in bytes. */
 #define CAIRO_STRIDE_ALIGNMENT (sizeof (uint32_t))