diff --git a/imagelib/color_transfer.py b/imagelib/color_transfer.py
index 2277932..44f04c6 100644
--- a/imagelib/color_transfer.py
+++ b/imagelib/color_transfer.py
@@ -148,7 +148,7 @@ def seamless_clone(source, target, mask):
 
 
 def random_color_transform(image, seed=None):
-    image = cv2.cvtColor(image, cv2.COLOR_BGR2LAB)
+    image = cv2.cvtColor(image.astype(np.float32), cv2.COLOR_BGR2LAB)
     M = special_ortho_group.rvs(3, 1, seed)
     image = image.dot(M)
     l, a, b = cv2.split(image)