diff --git a/src/ocrmypdf/leptonica.py b/src/ocrmypdf/leptonica.py
index 3a8cefe1..d9a48262 100644
--- a/src/ocrmypdf/leptonica.py
+++ b/src/ocrmypdf/leptonica.py
@@ -27,7 +27,6 @@ import logging
 import warnings
 from tempfile import TemporaryFile
 from ctypes.util import find_library
-from binascii import unhexlify
 from .lib._leptonica import ffi
 from functools import lru_cache
 from enum import Enum
@@ -518,12 +517,11 @@ class CompressedData:
             return getattr(self._compdata, name)
         raise AttributeError(name)
 
-    def get_palette(self):
-        buf = ffi.buffer(self._compdata.cmapdatahex, 
-                         self._compdata.ncolors * 7 + 3)
-        hex_str = bytes(buf).decode('ascii')
-        hex_str = hex_str[1:-1].replace(' ', '')
-        return unhexlify(hex_str)
+    def get_palette_pdf_string(self):
+        "Returns palette pre-formatted for use in PDF"
+        buflen = len('< ') + len(' rrggbb') * self._compdata.ncolors + len('>')
+        buf = ffi.buffer(self._compdata.cmapdatahex, buflen)
+        return bytes(buf)
 
     @staticmethod
     def _destroy(compdata):
diff --git a/src/ocrmypdf/pipeline.py b/src/ocrmypdf/pipeline.py
index 2240b945..04bdfd6f 100644
--- a/src/ocrmypdf/pipeline.py
+++ b/src/ocrmypdf/pipeline.py
@@ -1176,10 +1176,12 @@ def optimize_pdf(
         im_obj.Height = compdata.h
 
         if compdata.ncolors > 0:
-            palette_stream = pikepdf.Stream(pike, compdata.get_palette())
+            palette_pdf_string = compdata.get_palette_pdf_string()
+            log.info(palette_pdf_string)
+            palette_data = pikepdf.Object.parse(palette_pdf_string)
+            palette_stream = pikepdf.Stream(pike, bytes(palette_data))
             palette = [pikepdf.Name('/Indexed'), pikepdf.Name('/DeviceRGB'),
                        compdata.ncolors - 1, palette_stream]
-            #cs = pike.make_indirect(palette)
             cs = palette
         else:
             if compdata.spp == 1:
@@ -1192,13 +1194,13 @@ def optimize_pdf(
 
         im_obj.write(compdata.read(), pikepdf.Name('/FlateDecode'), predictor)
 
-        
-
+    # Not object_stream_mode + preserve_pdfa generates noncompliant PDFs
     pike.save(output_file, preserve_pdfa=True)
+
     input_size = Path(input_file).stat().st_size
     output_size = Path(output_file).stat().st_size
     improvement = input_size / output_size
-    log.info("Optimize reduced size by {:.1f}".format(improvement))
+    log.info("Optimize reduced size by {:.3f}".format(improvement))
 
 
 def merge_sidecars(