diff --git a/src/Core.js b/src/Core.js
index ed2257f..fc8e6e8 100644
--- a/src/Core.js
+++ b/src/Core.js
@@ -404,3 +404,7 @@ _html2canvas.Util.Children = function( elem ) {
   }
   return children;
 };
+
+_html2canvas.Util.isTransparent = function(backgroundColor) {
+  return (backgroundColor === "transparent" || backgroundColor === "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)");
+};
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/Parse.js b/src/Parse.js
index f444255..d155789 100644
--- a/src/Parse.js
+++ b/src/Parse.js
@@ -1022,17 +1022,16 @@ _html2canvas.Parse = function (images, options) {
     return bounds;
   }
 
-  function renderElement(element, parentStack, pseudoElement) {
+  function renderElement(element, parentStack, pseudoElement, ignoreBackground) {
     var transform = getTransform(element, parentStack),
     bounds = getBounds(element, transform),
     image,
-    bgcolor = (ignoreElementsRegExp.test(element.nodeName)) ? "#efefef" : getCSS(element, "backgroundColor"),
     stack = createStack(element, parentStack, bounds, transform),
     borders = stack.borders,
     ctx = stack.ctx,
     backgroundBounds = getBackgroundBounds(borders, bounds, stack.clip),
-    borderData = parseBorders(element, bounds, borders);
-
+    borderData = parseBorders(element, bounds, borders),
+    backgroundColor = (ignoreElementsRegExp.test(element.nodeName)) ? "#efefef" : getCSS(element, "backgroundColor");
 
 
     createShape(ctx, borderData.clip);
@@ -1040,9 +1039,11 @@ _html2canvas.Parse = function (images, options) {
     ctx.save();
     ctx.clip();
 
-    if (backgroundBounds.height > 0 && backgroundBounds.width > 0){
-      renderBackgroundColor(ctx, bounds, bgcolor);
+    if (backgroundBounds.height > 0 && backgroundBounds.width > 0 && !ignoreBackground) {
+      renderBackgroundColor(ctx, bounds, backgroundColor);
       renderBackgroundImage(element, backgroundBounds, ctx);
+    } else if (ignoreBackground) {
+      stack.backgroundColor =  backgroundColor;
     }
 
     ctx.restore();
@@ -1097,7 +1098,7 @@ _html2canvas.Parse = function (images, options) {
 
   function parseElement (element, stack, pseudoElement) {
     if (isElementVisible(element)) {
-      stack = renderElement(element, stack, pseudoElement) || stack;
+      stack = renderElement(element, stack, pseudoElement, false) || stack;
       if (!ignoreElementsRegExp.test(element.nodeName)) {
         parseChildren(element, stack, pseudoElement);
       }
@@ -1106,20 +1107,29 @@ _html2canvas.Parse = function (images, options) {
 
   function parseChildren(element, stack, pseudoElement) {
     Util.Children(element).forEach(function(node) {
-      if (node.nodeType === 1) {
+      if (node.nodeType === node.ELEMENT_NODE) {
         parseElement(node, stack, pseudoElement);
-      } else if (node.nodeType === 3) {
+      } else if (node.nodeType === node.TEXT_NODE) {
         renderText(element, node, stack);
       }
     });
   }
 
   function init() {
-    var stack = renderElement(element, null);
+    var background = getCSS(document.documentElement, "backgroundColor"),
+      transparentBackground = (Util.isTransparent(background) && element === document.body),
+      stack = renderElement(element, null, false, transparentBackground);
     parseChildren(element, stack);
-    stack.backgroundColor = getCSS(document.documentElement, "backgroundColor");
+
+    if (transparentBackground) {
+      background = stack.backgroundColor;
+    }
+
     body.removeChild(hidePseudoElements);
-    return stack;
+    return {
+      backgroundColor: background,
+      stack: stack
+    };
   }
 
   return init();
diff --git a/src/Renderer.js b/src/Renderer.js
index 91a2eab..99afa23 100644
--- a/src/Renderer.js
+++ b/src/Renderer.js
@@ -97,5 +97,5 @@ _html2canvas.Renderer = function(parseQueue, options){
     return renderer;
   }
 
-  return getRenderer(options.renderer)(parseQueue, options, document, createRenderQueue(parseQueue), _html2canvas);
+  return getRenderer(options.renderer)(parseQueue, options, document, createRenderQueue(parseQueue.stack), _html2canvas);
 };
diff --git a/src/renderers/Canvas.js b/src/renderers/Canvas.js
index 739561b..ebebeba 100644
--- a/src/renderers/Canvas.js
+++ b/src/renderers/Canvas.js
@@ -31,10 +31,6 @@ _html2canvas.Renderer.Canvas = function(options) {
     return true;
   }
 
-  function isTransparent(backgroundColor) {
-    return (backgroundColor === "transparent" || backgroundColor === "rgba(0, 0, 0, 0)");
-  }
-
   function renderItem(ctx, item) {
     switch(item.type){
       case "variable":
@@ -69,17 +65,18 @@ _html2canvas.Renderer.Canvas = function(options) {
     }
   }
 
-  return function(zStack, options, document, queue, _html2canvas) {
+  return function(parsedData, options, document, queue, _html2canvas) {
     var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d"),
     newCanvas,
     bounds,
-    fstyle;
+    fstyle,
+    zStack = parsedData.stack;
 
     canvas.width = canvas.style.width =  options.width || zStack.ctx.width;
     canvas.height = canvas.style.height = options.height || zStack.ctx.height;
 
     fstyle = ctx.fillStyle;
-    ctx.fillStyle = (isTransparent(zStack.backgroundColor) && options.background !== undefined) ? options.background : zStack.backgroundColor;
+    ctx.fillStyle = (Util.isTransparent(zStack.backgroundColor) && options.background !== undefined) ? options.background : parsedData.backgroundColor;
     ctx.fillRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
     ctx.fillStyle = fstyle;