diff --git a/crates/encoding/src/encoding.rs b/crates/encoding/src/encoding.rs
index a9eee83a0..b39c05df0 100644
--- a/crates/encoding/src/encoding.rs
+++ b/crates/encoding/src/encoding.rs
@@ -16,6 +16,11 @@ use {
 };
 
 /// Encoded data streams for a scene.
+///
+/// # Invariants
+///
+/// * At least one transform and style must be encoded before any path data
+/// or draw object.
 #[derive(Clone, Default)]
 pub struct Encoding {
     /// The path tag stream.
@@ -65,7 +70,7 @@ impl Encoding {
     }
 
     /// Clears the encoding.
-    pub fn reset(&mut self, is_fragment: bool) {
+    pub fn reset(&mut self) {
         self.transforms.clear();
         self.path_tags.clear();
         self.path_data.clear();
@@ -79,10 +84,6 @@ impl Encoding {
         self.flags = 0;
         #[cfg(feature = "full")]
         self.resources.reset();
-        if !is_fragment {
-            self.transforms.push(Transform::IDENTITY);
-            self.styles.push(Style::from_fill(Fill::NonZero));
-        }
     }
 
     /// Appends another encoding to this one with an optional transform.
diff --git a/crates/encoding/src/glyph_cache.rs b/crates/encoding/src/glyph_cache.rs
index 330f6d73c..925160e59 100644
--- a/crates/encoding/src/glyph_cache.rs
+++ b/crates/encoding/src/glyph_cache.rs
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ pub struct GlyphCache {
 
 impl GlyphCache {
     pub fn clear(&mut self) {
-        self.encoding.reset(true);
+        self.encoding.reset();
         self.glyphs.clear();
     }
 
diff --git a/shader/flatten.wgsl b/shader/flatten.wgsl
index f90e265e9..3d0b8aa66 100644
--- a/shader/flatten.wgsl
+++ b/shader/flatten.wgsl
@@ -476,6 +476,12 @@ fn compute_tag_monoid(ix: u32) -> PathTagData {
     // TODO: this can be a read buf overflow. Conditionalize by tag byte?
     tm = combine_tag_monoid(tag_monoids[ix >> 2u], tm);
     var tag_byte = (tag_word >> shift) & 0xffu;
+    // We no longer encode an initial transform and style so these
+    // are off by one.
+    // Note: an alternative would be to adjust config.transform_base and
+    // config.style_base.
+    tm.trans_ix -= 1u;
+    tm.style_ix -= STYLE_SIZE_IN_WORDS;
     return PathTagData(tag_byte, tm);
 }
 
diff --git a/src/cpu_shader/flatten.rs b/src/cpu_shader/flatten.rs
index fba717390..7b31d7438 100644
--- a/src/cpu_shader/flatten.rs
+++ b/src/cpu_shader/flatten.rs
@@ -524,6 +524,10 @@ fn compute_tag_monoid(ix: usize, pathtags: &[u32], tag_monoids: &[PathMonoid]) -
     if tag_byte != 0 {
         tm = tag_monoids[ix >> 2].combine(&tm);
     }
+    // We no longer encode an initial transform and style so these
+    // are off by one.
+    tm.trans_ix -= 1;
+    tm.style_ix -= core::mem::size_of::<Style>() as u32 / 4;
     PathTagData {
         tag_byte,
         monoid: tm,
diff --git a/src/scene.rs b/src/scene.rs
index 5f45772ce..743b27941 100644
--- a/src/scene.rs
+++ b/src/scene.rs
@@ -73,18 +73,18 @@ impl<'a> SceneBuilder<'a> {
     /// Creates a new builder for filling a scene. Any current content in the scene
     /// will be cleared.
     pub fn for_scene(scene: &'a mut Scene) -> Self {
-        Self::new(&mut scene.data, false)
+        Self::new(&mut scene.data)
     }
 
     /// Creates a new builder for filling a scene fragment. Any current content in
     /// the fragment will be cleared.    
     pub fn for_fragment(fragment: &'a mut SceneFragment) -> Self {
-        Self::new(&mut fragment.data, true)
+        Self::new(&mut fragment.data)
     }
 
     /// Creates a new builder for constructing a scene.
-    fn new(scene: &'a mut Encoding, is_fragment: bool) -> Self {
-        scene.reset(is_fragment);
+    fn new(scene: &'a mut Encoding) -> Self {
+        scene.reset();
         Self { scene }
     }