diff --git a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/vectorlayer.js b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/vectorlayer.js
index 14f3beeb79..55471f16b8 100644
--- a/src/ol/renderer/canvas/vectorlayer.js
+++ b/src/ol/renderer/canvas/vectorlayer.js
@@ -97,7 +97,9 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.VectorLayer.prototype.composeFrame = function(frameState, lay
     var drawOffsetX = 0;
     var drawOffsetY = 0;
     var replayContext;
-    if (layer.hasListener(ol.render.EventType.RENDER)) {
+    var transparentLayer = layerState.opacity !== 1;
+    var hasRenderListeners = layer.hasListener(ol.render.EventType.RENDER);
+    if (transparentLayer || hasRenderListeners) {
       var drawWidth = context.canvas.width;
       var drawHeight = context.canvas.height;
       if (rotation) {
@@ -113,11 +115,15 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.VectorLayer.prototype.composeFrame = function(frameState, lay
     } else {
       replayContext = context;
     }
-    // for performance reasons, context.save / context.restore is not used
-    // to save and restore the transformation matrix and the opacity.
-    // see http://jsperf.com/context-save-restore-versus-variable
+
     var alpha = replayContext.globalAlpha;
-    replayContext.globalAlpha = layerState.opacity;
+    if (!transparentLayer) {
+      // for performance reasons, context.save / context.restore is not used
+      // to save and restore the transformation matrix and the opacity.
+      // see http://jsperf.com/context-save-restore-versus-variable
+      replayContext.globalAlpha = layerState.opacity;
+    }
+
     if (replayContext != context) {
       replayContext.translate(drawOffsetX, drawOffsetY);
     }
@@ -159,11 +165,23 @@ ol.renderer.canvas.VectorLayer.prototype.composeFrame = function(frameState, lay
         width / 2, height / 2);
 
     if (replayContext != context) {
-      this.dispatchRenderEvent(replayContext, frameState, transform);
-      context.drawImage(replayContext.canvas, -drawOffsetX, -drawOffsetY);
+      if (hasRenderListeners) {
+        this.dispatchRenderEvent(replayContext, frameState, transform);
+      }
+      if (transparentLayer) {
+        var mainContextAlpha = context.globalAlpha;
+        context.globalAlpha = layerState.opacity;
+        context.drawImage(replayContext.canvas, -drawOffsetX, -drawOffsetY);
+        context.globalAlpha = mainContextAlpha;
+      } else {
+        context.drawImage(replayContext.canvas, -drawOffsetX, -drawOffsetY);
+      }
       replayContext.translate(-drawOffsetX, -drawOffsetY);
     }
-    replayContext.globalAlpha = alpha;
+
+    if (!transparentLayer) {
+      replayContext.globalAlpha = alpha;
+    }
   }
 
   if (clipped) {