diff --git a/src/client/render/pipeline.cpp b/src/client/render/pipeline.cpp
index d24aa3ce8..33b3e78e2 100644
--- a/src/client/render/pipeline.cpp
+++ b/src/client/render/pipeline.cpp
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 #include "client/client.h"
 #include "client/hud.h"
 #include "IRenderTarget.h"
+#include "SColor.h"
 
 #include <vector>
 #include <memory>
@@ -122,10 +123,19 @@ bool TextureBuffer::ensureTexture(video::ITexture **texture, const TextureDefini
 	if (!modify)
 		return false;
 
-	if (*texture)
+	if (*texture) {
 		m_driver->removeTexture(*texture);
+		*texture = nullptr;
+	}
 
 	if (definition.valid) {
+		if (!m_driver->queryTextureFormat(definition.format)) {
+			errorstream << "Failed to create texture \"" << definition.name
+				<< "\": unsupported format " << video::ColorFormatNames[definition.format]
+				<< std::endl;
+			return false;
+		}
+
 		if (definition.clear) {
 			// We're not able to clear a render target texture
 			// We're not able to create a normal texture with MSAA
@@ -142,9 +152,12 @@ bool TextureBuffer::ensureTexture(video::ITexture **texture, const TextureDefini
 		} else {
 			*texture = m_driver->addRenderTargetTexture(size, definition.name.c_str(), definition.format);
 		}
-	}
-	else {
-		*texture = nullptr;
+
+		if (!*texture) {
+			errorstream << "Failed to create texture \"" << definition.name
+				<< "\"" << std::endl;
+			return false;
+		}
 	}
 
 	return true;
diff --git a/src/client/render/secondstage.cpp b/src/client/render/secondstage.cpp
index f6a0cf78e..35ebe8110 100644
--- a/src/client/render/secondstage.cpp
+++ b/src/client/render/secondstage.cpp
@@ -165,6 +165,9 @@ RenderStep *addPostProcessing(RenderPipeline *pipeline, RenderStep *previousStep
 	// Number of mipmap levels of the bloom downsampling texture
 	const u8 MIPMAP_LEVELS = 4;
 
+	// color_format can be a normalized integer format, but bloom requires
+	// values outside of [0,1] so this needs to be a different one.
+	const auto bloom_format = video::ECF_A16B16G16R16F;
 
 	// post-processing stage
 
@@ -173,16 +176,16 @@ RenderStep *addPostProcessing(RenderPipeline *pipeline, RenderStep *previousStep
 	// common downsampling step for bloom or autoexposure
 	if (enable_bloom || enable_auto_exposure) {
 
-		v2f downscale = scale * 0.5;
+		v2f downscale = scale * 0.5f;
 		for (u8 i = 0; i < MIPMAP_LEVELS; i++) {
-			buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_SCALE_DOWN + i, downscale, std::string("downsample") + std::to_string(i), color_format);
+			buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_SCALE_DOWN + i, downscale, std::string("downsample") + std::to_string(i), bloom_format);
 			if (enable_bloom)
-				buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_SCALE_UP + i, downscale, std::string("upsample") + std::to_string(i), color_format);
-			downscale *= 0.5;
+				buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_SCALE_UP + i, downscale, std::string("upsample") + std::to_string(i), bloom_format);
+			downscale *= 0.5f;
 		}
 
 		if (enable_bloom) {
-			buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_BLOOM, scale, "bloom", color_format);
+			buffer->setTexture(TEXTURE_BLOOM, scale, "bloom", bloom_format);
 
 			// get bright spots
 			u32 shader_id = client->getShaderSource()->getShader("extract_bloom", TILE_MATERIAL_PLAIN, NDT_MESH);
diff --git a/src/defaultsettings.cpp b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
index 674442469..b1094be2d 100644
--- a/src/defaultsettings.cpp
+++ b/src/defaultsettings.cpp
@@ -571,7 +571,9 @@ void set_default_settings()
 	// Note: OpenGL ES 2.0 is not guaranteed to provide depth textures,
 	// which we would need for PP.
 	settings->setDefault("enable_post_processing", "false");
+	// still set these two settings in case someone wants to enable it
 	settings->setDefault("debanding", "false");
+	settings->setDefault("post_processing_texture_bits", "8");
 	settings->setDefault("curl_verify_cert", "false");
 
 	// Apply settings according to screen size