diff --git a/src/gifworker.ts b/src/gifworker.ts
index b1a0ace8..cb7c3e17 100644
--- a/src/gifworker.ts
+++ b/src/gifworker.ts
@@ -1,8 +1,7 @@
-import { GIFEncoder, quantize, applyPalette } from "gifenc";
+import { GIFEncoder, quantize, applyPalette, nearestColorIndex } from "gifenc";
 import { binarizeTransparency } from "./utils/binarize";
 
 type Options = {
-  format: "rgb565" | "rgba4444",
   delay: number,
   width: number,
   height: number,
@@ -16,23 +15,64 @@ const encoder = GIFEncoder();
 const frames: Uint8ClampedArray[] = [];
 let options: Options;
 
+// Make an rgba565 global palette.
+const quantizeGlobal = (
+  frames: Uint8ClampedArray[],
+  width: number,
+  height: number,
+) => {
+  const mergedFrames = new Uint8Array(frames.length * width * height * 4);
+  frames.forEach((frame, ix) => {
+    mergedFrames.set(frame, ix * width * height);
+  });
+  const palette = quantize(mergedFrames, 256, { format: "rgb565" });
+  return palette;
+};
+
+const genColorFinder = (palette: number[][]) => {
+  const cache: Record<number, number> = {};
+  return (rgb: [number, number, number]) => {
+    const key = (rgb[0] << 16) | (rgb[1] << 8) | rgb[2];
+    if (cache[key] === undefined) {
+      cache[key] = nearestColorIndex(palette, rgb);
+    }
+    return cache[key];
+  };
+};
+
 ctx.addEventListener("message", (msg) => {
   if (msg.data.initialize) {
-    options = {
-      ...msg.data.initialize,
-      format: msg.data.initialize.transparent ? "rgba4444" : "rgb565",
-    };
+    options = msg.data.initialize;
   } else if (msg.data.addFrame) {
     frames.push(msg.data.addFrame);
   } else if (msg.data.finish) {
-    const { format, delay, transparent, width, height } = options;
-    frames.forEach((frame) => {
+    const { delay, transparent, width, height } = options;
+    const palette = quantizeGlobal(frames, width, height);
+    if (transparent && palette.length === 256) { // preserve 1 room for the transparent color
+      palette.pop();
+    }
+    const colorFinder = genColorFinder(palette);
+    const transparentIndex = palette.length;
+    frames.forEach((frame, frameIx) => {
+      // dither and binarize transparency first
       if (transparent) {
         binarizeTransparency(frame, width, height);
       }
-      const palette = quantize(frame, 256, { format, oneBitAlpha: transparent });
-      const index = applyPalette(frame, palette, format);
-      encoder.writeFrame(index, width, height, { palette, delay, transparent });
+      // apply palette
+      const indexed = new Uint8Array(width * height);
+      for (let i = 0; i < indexed.length; i++) {
+        if (transparent && frame[i * 4 + 3] < 128) {
+          indexed[i] = transparentIndex;
+        } else {
+          indexed[i] = colorFinder([frame[i * 4], frame[i * 4 + 1], frame[i * 4 + 2]]);
+        }
+      }
+      encoder.writeFrame(indexed, width, height, {
+        palette: frameIx === 0 ? palette : undefined,
+        delay,
+        transparent,
+        transparentIndex,
+      });
     });
     encoder.finish();
     ctx.postMessage(new Blob([encoder.bytes()], { type: "image/gif" }));