diff --git a/OpenRA.Game/Graphics/Palette.cs b/OpenRA.Game/Graphics/Palette.cs
index 2972662950..818a2b17ba 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Game/Graphics/Palette.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Game/Graphics/Palette.cs
@@ -64,18 +64,18 @@ namespace OpenRA.Graphics
 			Buffer.BlockCopy(colors, 0, destination, destinationOffset * 4, Palette.Size * 4);
 		}
 
-		public ImmutablePalette(string filename, int[] remap)
+		public ImmutablePalette(string filename, int[] remapTransparent, int[] remap)
 		{
 			using (var s = File.OpenRead(filename))
-				LoadFromStream(s, remap);
+				LoadFromStream(s, remapTransparent, remap);
 		}
 
-		public ImmutablePalette(Stream s, int[] remapShadow)
+		public ImmutablePalette(Stream s, int[] remapTransparent, int[] remapShadow)
 		{
-			LoadFromStream(s, remapShadow);
+			LoadFromStream(s, remapTransparent, remapShadow);
 		}
 
-		void LoadFromStream(Stream s, int[] remapShadow)
+		void LoadFromStream(Stream s, int[] remapTransparent, int[] remapShadow)
 		{
 			using (var reader = new BinaryReader(s))
 				for (var i = 0; i < Palette.Size; i++)
@@ -92,7 +92,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.Graphics
 					colors[i] = (uint)((255 << 24) | (r << 16) | (g << 8) | b);
 				}
 
-			colors[0] = 0; // Convert black background to transparency.
+			foreach (var i in remapTransparent)
+				colors[i] = 0;
+
 			foreach (var i in remapShadow)
 				colors[i] = 140u << 24;
 		}
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Cnc/UtilityCommands/RemapShpCommand.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Cnc/UtilityCommands/RemapShpCommand.cs
index c219e83177..74cbf100f1 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Cnc/UtilityCommands/RemapShpCommand.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Cnc/UtilityCommands/RemapShpCommand.cs
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Cnc.UtilityCommands
 					= PlayerColorRemap.GetRemapIndex(destRemapIndex, i);
 
 			// map everything else to the best match based on channel-wise distance
-			var srcPalette = new ImmutablePalette(args[1].Split(':')[1], shadowIndex);
-			var destPalette = new ImmutablePalette(args[2].Split(':')[1], shadowIndex);
+			var srcPalette = new ImmutablePalette(args[1].Split(':')[1], new[] { 0 }, shadowIndex);
+			var destPalette = new ImmutablePalette(args[2].Split(':')[1], new[] { 0 }, shadowIndex);
 
 			for (var i = 0; i < Palette.Size; i++)
 				if (!remap.ContainsKey(i))
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/PaletteFromFile.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/PaletteFromFile.cs
index aa94659d9e..10eddbc842 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/PaletteFromFile.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/Traits/World/PaletteFromFile.cs
@@ -31,6 +31,9 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 		[Desc("filename to load")]
 		public readonly string Filename = null;
 
+		[Desc("Map listed indices to transparent. Ignores previous color.")]
+		public readonly int[] TransparentIndex = { 0 };
+
 		[Desc("Map listed indices to shadow. Ignores previous color.")]
 		public readonly int[] ShadowIndex = { };
 
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.Traits
 
 		ImmutablePalette IProvidesCursorPaletteInfo.ReadPalette(IReadOnlyFileSystem fileSystem)
 		{
-			return new ImmutablePalette(fileSystem.Open(Filename), ShadowIndex);
+			return new ImmutablePalette(fileSystem.Open(Filename), TransparentIndex, ShadowIndex);
 		}
 	}
 
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ConvertSpriteToPngCommand.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ConvertSpriteToPngCommand.cs
index ce73153686..fe6c5fbb8b 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ConvertSpriteToPngCommand.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/ConvertSpriteToPngCommand.cs
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UtilityCommands
 				shadowIndex[shadowIndex.Length - 3] = 4;
 			}
 
-			var palette = new ImmutablePalette(args[2], shadowIndex);
+			var palette = new ImmutablePalette(args[2], new[] { 0 }, shadowIndex);
 			var palColors = new Color[Palette.Size];
 			for (var i = 0; i < Palette.Size; i++)
 				palColors[i] = palette.GetColor(i);
diff --git a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/DumpSequenceSheetsCommand.cs b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/DumpSequenceSheetsCommand.cs
index 145d08d864..6b03cea2a3 100644
--- a/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/DumpSequenceSheetsCommand.cs
+++ b/OpenRA.Mods.Common/UtilityCommands/DumpSequenceSheetsCommand.cs
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace OpenRA.Mods.Common.UtilityCommands
 			// HACK: The engine code assumes that Game.modData is set.
 			var modData = Game.ModData = utility.ModData;
 
-			var palette = new ImmutablePalette(args[1], new int[0]);
+			var palette = new ImmutablePalette(args[1], new[] { 0 }, new int[0]);
 
 			SequenceProvider sequences = null;
 			var mapPackage = new Folder(Platform.EngineDir).OpenPackage(args[2], modData.ModFiles);