diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_pdf.py b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_pdf.py
index e14aadcb48bd..e8b143fa7d66 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_pdf.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/backends/backend_pdf.py
@@ -1626,6 +1626,13 @@ def check_gc(self, gc, fillcolor=None):
 
         orig_alphas = getattr(gc, '_effective_alphas', (1.0, 1.0))
 
+        if gc.get_rgb() is None:
+            # it should not matter what color here
+            # since linewidth should be 0
+            # unless affected by global settings in rcParams
+            # hence setting zero alpha just incase
+            gc.set_foreground((0, 0, 0, 0), isRGBA=True)
+
         if gc._forced_alpha:
             gc._effective_alphas = (gc._alpha, gc._alpha)
         elif fillcolor is None or len(fillcolor) < 4:
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/testing/compare.py b/lib/matplotlib/testing/compare.py
index c3d649e38069..b6f508660fc9 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/testing/compare.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/testing/compare.py
@@ -355,8 +355,8 @@ def crop_to_same(actual_path, actual_image, expected_path, expected_image):
     # clip the images to the same size -- this is useful only when
     # comparing eps to pdf
     if actual_path[-7:-4] == 'eps' and expected_path[-7:-4] == 'pdf':
-        aw, ah = actual_image.shape
-        ew, eh = expected_image.shape
+        aw, ah, ad = actual_image.shape
+        ew, eh, ed = expected_image.shape
         actual_image = actual_image[int(aw / 2 - ew / 2):int(
             aw / 2 + ew / 2), int(ah / 2 - eh / 2):int(ah / 2 + eh / 2)]
     return actual_image, expected_image
diff --git a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pdf.py b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pdf.py
index 3529ea8541db..7654d8d98b30 100644
--- a/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pdf.py
+++ b/lib/matplotlib/tests/test_backend_pdf.py
@@ -19,7 +19,9 @@
                                             _determinism_check)
 from matplotlib.testing.decorators import image_comparison
 from matplotlib import dviread
+from matplotlib.testing.compare import compare_images
 
+import matplotlib as mpl
 
 needs_tex = pytest.mark.xfail(
     not checkdep_tex(),
@@ -191,3 +193,16 @@ def psfont(*args, **kwargs):
     ax.text(0.5, 0.5, 'hello')
     with tempfile.TemporaryFile() as tmpfile, pytest.raises(ValueError):
         fig.savefig(tmpfile, format='pdf')
+
+
+@pytest.mark.style('default')
+def test_pdf_savefig_when_color_is_none(tmpdir):
+    fig, ax = plt.subplots()
+    plt.axis('off')
+    ax.plot(np.sin(np.linspace(-5, 5, 100)), 'v', c='none')
+    actual_image = tmpdir.join('figure.pdf')
+    expected_image = tmpdir.join('figure.eps')
+    fig.savefig(str(actual_image), format='pdf')
+    fig.savefig(str(expected_image), format='eps')
+    result = compare_images(str(actual_image), str(expected_image), 0)
+    assert result is None