diff --git a/libvips/foreign/analyze2vips.c b/libvips/foreign/analyze2vips.c
index 1d629e64..45da4972 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/analyze2vips.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/analyze2vips.c
@@ -552,6 +552,9 @@ vips__analyze_read_header( const char *filename, VipsImage *out )
 
 	attach_meta( out, d );
 
+        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_THINSTRIP, NULL ) )
+		return( -1 );
+
 	return( 0 );
 }
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
index 1d35c954..31b788f1 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/foreign.c
@@ -932,13 +932,17 @@ vips_foreign_load_temp( VipsForeignLoad *load )
 static gboolean
 vips_foreign_load_iscompat( VipsImage *a, VipsImage *b )
 {
+        /* dhint must match too, or we can get terrible performance with some
+         * formats.
+         */
 	if( a->Xsize != b->Xsize ||
 		a->Ysize != b->Ysize ||
 		a->Bands != b->Bands ||
 		a->Coding != b->Coding ||
-		a->BandFmt != b->BandFmt ) {
-		vips_error( "VipsForeignLoad",
-			"%s", _( "images do not match" ) ); 
+		a->BandFmt != b->BandFmt ||
+                a->dhint != b->dhint ) {
+		vips_error( "VipsForeignLoad", "%s", 
+                        _( "images do not match between header and load" ) ); 
 		return( FALSE );
 	}
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/jp2kload.c b/libvips/foreign/jp2kload.c
index a6dd7d4c..223ffa64 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/jp2kload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/jp2kload.c
@@ -447,11 +447,9 @@ vips_foreign_load_jp2k_set_header( VipsForeignLoadJp2k *jp2k, VipsImage *out )
 		return( -1 );
 	}
 
-	/* Even though this is a tiled reader, we hint thinstrip since with
-	 * the cache we are quite happy serving that if anything downstream 
-	 * would like it.
+	/* We use a tilecache on our output.
 	 */
-        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_THINSTRIP, NULL ) )
+        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_SMALLTILE, NULL ) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 	vips_image_init_fields( out,
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/matlab.c b/libvips/foreign/matlab.c
index b184fe99..8da55e78 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/matlab.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/matlab.c
@@ -220,6 +220,11 @@ mat2vips_get_header( matvar_t *var, VipsImage *im )
 		 format,
 		 VIPS_CODING_NONE, interpretation, 1.0, 1.0 );
 
+        /* We read to a huge memory area.
+         */
+	if( vips_image_pipelinev( im, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_ANY, NULL ) )
+		return( -1 );
+
 	return( 0 );
 }
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
index 27eb5679..ded3163c 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/niftiload.c
@@ -482,7 +482,10 @@ vips_foreign_load_nifti_set_header( VipsForeignLoadNifti *nifti,
 	printf( "get_vips_properties: fmt = %d\n", fmt );
 #endif /*DEBUG*/
 
-	vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_SMALLTILE, NULL );
+        /* We load to memory then write to out, so we'll hint THINSTRIP.
+         */
+	vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_THINSTRIP, NULL );
+
 	vips_image_init_fields( out,
 		width, height, bands, fmt, 
 		VIPS_CODING_NONE, 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/popplerload.c b/libvips/foreign/popplerload.c
index 237e82d7..1e450048 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/popplerload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/popplerload.c
@@ -277,11 +277,6 @@ vips_foreign_load_pdf_set_image( VipsForeignLoadPdf *pdf, VipsImage *out )
 	printf( "vips_foreign_load_pdf_set_image: %p\n", pdf );
 #endif /*DEBUG*/
 
-	/* We render to a linecache, so fat strips work well.
-	 */
-        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_FATSTRIP, NULL ) )
-		return( -1 );
-
 	/* Extract and attach metadata. Set the old name too for compat.
 	 */
 	vips_image_set_int( out, "pdf-n_pages", pdf->n_pages ); 
@@ -308,6 +303,11 @@ vips_foreign_load_pdf_set_image( VipsForeignLoadPdf *pdf, VipsImage *out )
 		4, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR,
 		VIPS_CODING_NONE, VIPS_INTERPRETATION_sRGB, res, res );
 
+        /* We render to a tilecache, so it has to be SMALLTILE.
+         */
+        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_SMALLTILE, NULL ) )
+		return( -1 );
+
 	return( 0 );
 }
 
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/svgload.c b/libvips/foreign/svgload.c
index 0fe829d7..94072581 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/svgload.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/svgload.c
@@ -543,10 +543,9 @@ vips_foreign_load_svg_parse( VipsForeignLoadSvg *svg, VipsImage *out )
 		4, VIPS_FORMAT_UCHAR,
 		VIPS_CODING_NONE, VIPS_INTERPRETATION_sRGB, res, res );
 
-	/* We render to a cache with a couple of rows of tiles, so fat strips 
-	 * work well.
+	/* We use a tilecache, so it's smalltile.
 	 */
-        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_FATSTRIP, NULL ) )
+        if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_SMALLTILE, NULL ) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 	return( 0 );
diff --git a/libvips/foreign/vipspng.c b/libvips/foreign/vipspng.c
index ca32776a..c9c55a7f 100644
--- a/libvips/foreign/vipspng.c
+++ b/libvips/foreign/vipspng.c
@@ -393,7 +393,6 @@ png2vips_header( Read *read, VipsImage *out )
 	png_uint_32 width, height;
 	int bitdepth, color_type;
 	int interlace_type;
-	VipsDemandStyle hint;
 
 	png_uint_32 res_x, res_y;
 	int unit_type;
@@ -524,17 +523,7 @@ png2vips_header( Read *read, VipsImage *out )
 	VIPS_SETSTR( out->filename, 
 		vips_connection_filename( VIPS_CONNECTION( read->source ) ) );
 
-	/* Uninterlaced images will be read in seq mode. Interlaced images are
-	 * read via a huge memory buffer.
-	 */
-	if( interlace_type == PNG_INTERLACE_NONE ) 
-		/* Sequential mode needs thinstrip to work with things like
-		 * vips_shrink().
-		 */
-		hint = VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_THINSTRIP;
-	else 
-		hint = VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_ANY;
-	if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, hint, NULL ) )
+	if( vips_image_pipelinev( out, VIPS_DEMAND_STYLE_THINSTRIP, NULL ) )
 		return( -1 );
 
 	/* Fetch the ICC profile. @name is useless, something like "icc" or