Drawing text with transparent background into palletized bitmaps no longer works in recent firmware updates

What was once an issue in the simulator only, now seems to have found its way into the firmware of certain watches.

https://forums.garmin.com/developer/connect-iq/i/bug-reports/no-more-transparency-for-font-background-on-bufferd-bitmap-since-sdk-4-0

I received feedback from users with FR955 and FR965 devices that one of my watch faces no longer works properly after receiving a firmware update.

FR955: 14.20 and 15.19

FR965: 4.19

This is the watch face:

https://apps.garmin.com/en-US/apps/5f1b4546-4166-4840-bd2e-e81811984870

In order to accomplish the textured time text with shine through background gradient I draw the text into a palletized bitmap and then draw the bitmap on to the screen Dc.
I'm using a pallete in order to swap one of the colors out for the COLOR_TRANSPARENT before drawing it on the screen.
If somebody can recommend a different solution that allows me to get the same effect without a palette I'm happy to adopt it.

If not I'm seeking a bugfix in the firmware.