diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/imageops/ordered_dither.cpp b/src/calibre/utils/imageops/ordered_dither.cpp
index bf85727b0c..55293ddf04 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/imageops/ordered_dither.cpp
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/imageops/ordered_dither.cpp
@@ -25,6 +25,8 @@ typedef unsigned __int32 uint32_t;
 #include <cstdint>
 #endif
 
+#include <QVector>
+
 // NOTE: *May* not behave any better than a simple / 0xFF on modern x86_64 CPUs...
 //       This was, however, tested on ARM, where it is noticeably faster.
 static uint32_t DIV255(uint32_t v) {
@@ -79,7 +81,19 @@ QImage ordered_dither(const QImage &image) { // {{{
     QImage img = image;
     int y = 0, x = 0, width = img.width(), height = img.height();
     uint8_t gray = 0, dithered = 0;
-    QImage dst(width, height, QImage::Format_Grayscale8);
+    QImage dst(width, height, QImage::Format_Indexed8);
+
+    // Set up the eInk palette
+    // FIXME: Make it const and switch to C++11 list init if MSVC is amenable...
+    QVector<uint8_t> palette(16);
+    QVector<QRgb> color_table(16);
+    int i = 0;
+    for (i = 0; i < 16; i++) {
+        uint8_t color = i * 17;
+        palette << color;
+        color_table << qRgb(color, color, color);
+    }
+    dst.setColorTable(color_table);
 
     // We're running behind blend_image, so, we should only ever be fed RGB32 as input...
     if (img.format() != QImage::Format_RGB32) {
@@ -95,7 +109,7 @@ QImage ordered_dither(const QImage &image) { // {{{
             // We're running behind grayscale_image, so R = G = B
             gray = qRed(pixel);
             dithered = dither_o8x8(x, y, gray);
-            *(dst_row + x) = dithered;
+            *(dst_row + x) = palette.indexOf(dithered);
         }
     }
     return dst;
diff --git a/src/calibre/utils/img.py b/src/calibre/utils/img.py
index f333755d54..d66cf20753 100644
--- a/src/calibre/utils/img.py
+++ b/src/calibre/utils/img.py
@@ -468,7 +468,7 @@ def eink_dither_image(img):
           Running blend_image if the image has an alpha channel,
           or grayscale_image if it's not already grayscaled is the caller's responsibility.
 
-    Returns a QImage in Grayscale8 pixel format.
+    Returns a QImage in Indexed8 pixel format.
     '''
     img = image_from_data(img)
     return imageops.ordered_dither(img)