diff --git a/skimage/io/_plugins/pil_plugin.py b/skimage/io/_plugins/pil_plugin.py
index f07fc6f9..e2108145 100644
--- a/skimage/io/_plugins/pil_plugin.py
+++ b/skimage/io/_plugins/pil_plugin.py
@@ -90,9 +90,12 @@ def pil_to_ndarray(im, dtype=None, img_num=None):
         elif im.mode == '1':
             frame = im.convert('L')
 
-        elif 'A' in im.mode or im.mode == 'CMYK':
+        elif 'A' in im.mode:
             frame = im.convert('RGBA')
 
+        elif im.mode == 'CMYK':
+            frame = im.convert('RGB')
+
         if im.mode.startswith('I;16'):
             shape = im.size
             dtype = '>u2' if im.mode.endswith('B') else '<u2'