diff --git a/plotly/matplotlylib/renderer.py b/plotly/matplotlylib/renderer.py
index c95de52247..8f01558ba2 100644
--- a/plotly/matplotlylib/renderer.py
+++ b/plotly/matplotlylib/renderer.py
@@ -85,6 +85,7 @@ def open_figure(self, fig, props):
             autosize=False,
             hovermode="closest",
         )
+        self.plotly_fig["layout"].template.layout.plot_bgcolor = "white"
         self.mpl_x_bounds, self.mpl_y_bounds = mpltools.get_axes_bounds(fig)
         margin = go.layout.Margin(
             l=int(self.mpl_x_bounds[0] * self.plotly_fig["layout"]["width"]),
@@ -299,7 +300,7 @@ def draw_bar(self, coll):
         )  # TODO ditto
         if len(bar["x"]) > 1:
             self.msg += "    Heck yeah, I drew that bar chart\n"
-            (self.plotly_fig.add_trace(bar),)
+            self.plotly_fig.add_trace(bar)
             if bar_gap is not None:
                 self.plotly_fig["layout"]["bargap"] = bar_gap
         else:
@@ -497,7 +498,7 @@ def draw_marked_line(self, **props):
                 marked_line["x"] = mpltools.mpl_dates_to_datestrings(
                     marked_line["x"], formatter
                 )
-            (self.plotly_fig.add_trace(marked_line),)
+            self.plotly_fig.add_trace(marked_line)
             self.msg += "    Heck yeah, I drew that line\n"
         elif props["coordinates"] == "axes":
             # dealing with legend graphical elements
diff --git a/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/__init__.py b/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/__init__.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..c29e9896d6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/__init__.py
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+import matplotlib
+
+matplotlib.use("Agg")
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
diff --git a/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/test_renderer.py b/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/test_renderer.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..a519ba8632
--- /dev/null
+++ b/plotly/matplotlylib/tests/test_renderer.py
@@ -0,0 +1,12 @@
+import plotly.tools as tls
+
+from . import plt
+
+
+def test_plot_bgcolor_defaults_to_white():
+    plt.figure()
+    plt.plot([0, 1], [0, 1])
+
+    plotly_fig = tls.mpl_to_plotly(plt.gcf())
+
+    assert plotly_fig.layout.template.layout.plot_bgcolor == "white"