diff --git a/indra/newview/lldrawpool.h b/indra/newview/lldrawpool.h
index 5a2981e749614677d406f7a797c6a65a580ee072..64774d06df78ca0a2f86dcafa30d7c8a1ba5c295 100644
--- a/indra/newview/lldrawpool.h
+++ b/indra/newview/lldrawpool.h
@@ -133,6 +133,7 @@ public:
 		PASS_ALPHA,
 		PASS_ALPHA_MASK,
 		PASS_FULLBRIGHT_ALPHA_MASK,
+		PASS_ALPHA_INVISIBLE,
 		NUM_RENDER_TYPES,
 	};
 
diff --git a/indra/newview/lldrawpoolalpha.cpp b/indra/newview/lldrawpoolalpha.cpp
index ddb7d3ceebd2bf62ca0710bbe630aec2d0f09551..5b62dbc560c197bc558585544f54bda5a00343be 100644
--- a/indra/newview/lldrawpoolalpha.cpp
+++ b/indra/newview/lldrawpoolalpha.cpp
@@ -337,6 +337,7 @@ void LLDrawPoolAlpha::render(S32 pass)
 
 		pushBatches(LLRenderPass::PASS_ALPHA_MASK, LLVertexBuffer::MAP_VERTEX | LLVertexBuffer::MAP_TEXCOORD0, FALSE);
 		pushBatches(LLRenderPass::PASS_FULLBRIGHT_ALPHA_MASK, LLVertexBuffer::MAP_VERTEX | LLVertexBuffer::MAP_TEXCOORD0, FALSE);
+		pushBatches(LLRenderPass::PASS_ALPHA_INVISIBLE, LLVertexBuffer::MAP_VERTEX | LLVertexBuffer::MAP_TEXCOORD0, FALSE);
 
 		if(shaders) 
 		{
diff --git a/indra/newview/llvovolume.cpp b/indra/newview/llvovolume.cpp
index 7492a0678448f6718ffab57689a365eb98c798f3..03d4c51aff5d1c9a4604f0afebf01e59a2608184 100644
--- a/indra/newview/llvovolume.cpp
+++ b/indra/newview/llvovolume.cpp
@@ -4433,10 +4433,10 @@ void LLVolumeGeometryManager::rebuildGeom(LLSpatialGroup* group)
 					else
 					{
 						if (te->getColor().mV[3] > 0.f)
-						{
+						{ //only treat as alpha in the pipeline if < 100% transparent
 							drawablep->setState(LLDrawable::HAS_ALPHA);
-							alpha_faces.push_back(facep);
 						}
+						alpha_faces.push_back(facep);
 					}
 				}
 				else
@@ -4947,7 +4947,11 @@ void LLVolumeGeometryManager::genDrawInfo(LLSpatialGroup* group, U32 mask, std::
 			if (is_alpha)
 			{
 				// can we safely treat this as an alpha mask?
-				if (facep->canRenderAsMask())
+				if (facep->getFaceColor().mV[3] <= 0.f)
+				{ //100% transparent, don't render unless we're highlighting transparent
+					registerFace(group, facep, LLRenderPass::PASS_ALPHA_INVISIBLE);
+				}
+				else if (facep->canRenderAsMask())
 				{
 					if (te->getFullbright() || LLPipeline::sNoAlpha)
 					{