diff --git a/src/ol/PluggableMap.js b/src/ol/PluggableMap.js
index 6e3e4f797f..d671e9cad8 100644
--- a/src/ol/PluggableMap.js
+++ b/src/ol/PluggableMap.js
@@ -62,6 +62,7 @@ import {removeNode} from './dom.js';
  * @property {Array<number>} viewHints ViewHints.
  * @property {!Object<string, Object<string, boolean>>} wantedTiles WantedTiles.
  * @property {string} mapId The id of the map.
+ * @property {Object<string, boolean>} renderTargets Identifiers of previously rendered elements.
  */
 
 /**
@@ -1477,6 +1478,7 @@ class PluggableMap extends BaseObject {
         viewHints: viewHints,
         wantedTiles: {},
         mapId: getUid(this),
+        renderTargets: {},
       };
       if (viewState.nextCenter && viewState.nextResolution) {
         const rotation = isNaN(viewState.nextRotation)
diff --git a/src/ol/source/Raster.js b/src/ol/source/Raster.js
index 168eeaa9d6..0ee8129504 100644
--- a/src/ol/source/Raster.js
+++ b/src/ol/source/Raster.js
@@ -648,6 +648,7 @@ class RasterSource extends ImageSource {
       viewHints: [],
       wantedTiles: {},
       mapId: getUid(this),
+      renderTargets: {},
     };
 
     this.setAttributions(function (frameState) {
diff --git a/src/ol/webgl.js b/src/ol/webgl.js
index 2e9ace2315..5479823cd1 100644
--- a/src/ol/webgl.js
+++ b/src/ol/webgl.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
  * @module ol/webgl
  */
 
+import {assign} from './obj.js';
+
 /**
  * Constants taken from goog.webgl
  */
@@ -89,10 +91,11 @@ const CONTEXT_IDS = ['experimental-webgl', 'webgl', 'webkit-3d', 'moz-webgl'];
  * @return {WebGLRenderingContext} WebGL rendering context.
  */
 export function getContext(canvas, opt_attributes) {
+  const attributes = assign({preserveDrawingBuffer: true}, opt_attributes);
   const ii = CONTEXT_IDS.length;
   for (let i = 0; i < ii; ++i) {
     try {
-      const context = canvas.getContext(CONTEXT_IDS[i], opt_attributes);
+      const context = canvas.getContext(CONTEXT_IDS[i], attributes);
       if (context) {
         return /** @type {!WebGLRenderingContext} */ (context);
       }
diff --git a/src/ol/webgl/PostProcessingPass.js b/src/ol/webgl/PostProcessingPass.js
index 5989ccb3bb..362dd1d1cf 100644
--- a/src/ol/webgl/PostProcessingPass.js
+++ b/src/ol/webgl/PostProcessingPass.js
@@ -2,6 +2,8 @@
  * @module ol/webgl/PostProcessingPass
  */
 
+import {getUid} from '../util.js';
+
 const DEFAULT_VERTEX_SHADER = `
   precision mediump float;
   
@@ -265,7 +267,21 @@ class WebGLPostProcessingPass {
     gl.activeTexture(gl.TEXTURE0);
     gl.bindTexture(gl.TEXTURE_2D, this.renderTargetTexture_);
 
-    // render the frame buffer to the canvas
+    if (!nextPass) {
+      // clear the canvas if we are the first to render to it
+      // and preserveDrawingBuffer is true
+      const canvasId = getUid(gl.canvas);
+      if (!frameState.renderTargets[canvasId]) {
+        const attributes = gl.getContextAttributes();
+        if (attributes.preserveDrawingBuffer) {
+          gl.clearColor(0.0, 0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
+          gl.clear(gl.COLOR_BUFFER_BIT);
+        }
+
+        frameState.renderTargets[canvasId] = true;
+      }
+    }
+
     gl.enable(gl.BLEND);
     gl.blendFunc(gl.ONE, gl.ONE_MINUS_SRC_ALPHA);
     gl.viewport(0, 0, gl.drawingBufferWidth, gl.drawingBufferHeight);
diff --git a/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/PointsLayer.test.js b/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/PointsLayer.test.js
index 171d412a2b..eddf3799da 100644
--- a/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/PointsLayer.test.js
+++ b/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/PointsLayer.test.js
@@ -25,6 +25,7 @@ const baseFrameState = {
   layerStatesArray: [{}],
   layerIndex: 0,
   pixelRatio: 1,
+  renderTargets: {},
 };
 
 const simpleVertexShader = `
@@ -664,6 +665,7 @@ describe('ol/renderer/webgl/PointsLayer', function () {
             zIndex: 0,
           },
         ],
+        renderTargets: {},
       };
     });
 
diff --git a/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/TileLayer.test.js b/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/TileLayer.test.js
index 65650a1c4b..2716ed4e22 100644
--- a/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/TileLayer.test.js
+++ b/test/browser/spec/ol/renderer/webgl/TileLayer.test.js
@@ -51,6 +51,7 @@ describe('ol/renderer/webgl/TileLayer', function () {
       usedTiles: {},
       wantedTiles: {},
       tileQueue: new TileQueue(VOID, VOID),
+      renderTargets: {},
     };
   });
 
diff --git a/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/expected.png b/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/expected.png
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..e551c5c2e8
Binary files /dev/null and b/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/expected.png differ
diff --git a/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/main.js b/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/main.js
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..d8978b19e0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/rendering/cases/webgl-opacity/main.js
@@ -0,0 +1,45 @@
+import Heatmap from '../../../../src/ol/layer/Heatmap.js';
+import KML from '../../../../src/ol/format/KML.js';
+import Map from '../../../../src/ol/Map.js';
+import Tile from '../../../../src/ol/layer/Tile.js';
+import Vector from '../../../../src/ol/source/Vector.js';
+import View from '../../../../src/ol/View.js';
+import XYZ from '../../../../src/ol/source/XYZ.js';
+import {fromLonLat} from '../../../../src/ol/proj.js';
+
+const map = new Map({
+  layers: [
+    new Tile({
+      source: new XYZ({
+        url: '/data/tiles/satellite/{z}/{x}/{y}.jpg',
+        transition: 0,
+      }),
+    }),
+    new Heatmap({
+      source: new Vector({
+        url: '/data/2012_Earthquakes_Mag5.kml',
+        format: new KML({
+          extractStyles: false,
+        }),
+      }),
+      blur: 15,
+      radius: 5,
+      weight: function (feature) {
+        const name = feature.get('name');
+        const magnitude = parseFloat(name.substr(2));
+        return magnitude - 5;
+      },
+    }),
+  ],
+  target: 'map',
+  view: new View({
+    center: [0, 0],
+    zoom: 1,
+  }),
+});
+
+setTimeout(() => {
+  map.getView().setCenter(fromLonLat([45, 0]));
+
+  render({message: 'Properly handles opacity in the first webgl layer'});
+}, 500);