diff --git a/src/enc/near_lossless.c b/src/enc/near_lossless.c
index 23464596..0074d4a7 100644
--- a/src/enc/near_lossless.c
+++ b/src/enc/near_lossless.c
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 // Author: Jyrki Alakuijala (jyrki@google.com)
 // Converted to C by Aleksander Kramarz (akramarz@google.com)
 
+#include <assert.h>
 #include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include "../dsp/lossless.h"
@@ -23,42 +24,14 @@
 #define MIN_DIM_FOR_NEAR_LOSSLESS 64
 #define MAX_LIMIT_BITS             5
 
-// Computes quantized pixel value and distance from original value.
-static void GetValAndDistance(int a, int initial, int bits,
-                              int* const val, int* const distance) {
-  const int mask = ~((1 << bits) - 1);
-  *val = (initial & mask) | (initial >> (8 - bits));
-  *distance = 2 * abs(a - *val);
-}
-
-// Clamps the value to range [0, 255].
-static int Clamp8b(int val) {
-  const int min_val = 0;
-  const int max_val = 0xff;
-  return (val < min_val) ? min_val : (val > max_val) ? max_val : val;
-}
-
-// Quantizes values {a, a+(1<<bits), a-(1<<bits)} and returns the nearest one.
+// Quantizes the value up or down to a multiple of 1<<bits (or to 255),
+// choosing the closer one, resolving ties using bankers' rounding.
 static int FindClosestDiscretized(int a, int bits) {
-  int best_val = a, i;
-  int min_distance = 256;
-
-  for (i = -1; i <= 1; ++i) {
-    int candidate, distance;
-    const int val = Clamp8b(a + i * (1 << bits));
-    GetValAndDistance(a, val, bits, &candidate, &distance);
-    if (i != 0) {
-      ++distance;
-    }
-    // Smallest distance but favor i == 0 over i == -1 and i == 1
-    // since that keeps the overall intensity more constant in the
-    // images.
-    if (distance < min_distance) {
-      min_distance = distance;
-      best_val = candidate;
-    }
-  }
-  return best_val;
+  const int mask = (1 << bits) - 1;
+  const int biased = a + (mask >> 1) + ((a >> bits) & 1);
+  assert(bits > 0);
+  if (biased > 0xff) return 0xff;
+  return biased & ~mask;
 }
 
 // Applies FindClosestDiscretized to all channels of pixel.