here the working version of walf's solution

<?php
// Backwards compatiblity
if (!function_exists('imagepalettetotruecolor')) {
    function imagepalettetotruecolor(&$src) {
        if (imageistruecolor($src)) {
            return true;
        }

        $dst = imagecreatetruecolor(imagesx($src), imagesy($src));
     
        imagealphablending($dst, false);//prevent blending with default black
        $transparent = imagecolorallocatealpha($dst, 255, 255, 255, 127);//change the RGB values if you need, but leave alpha at 127
        imagefilledrectangle($dst, 0, 0, imagesx($src), imagesy($src), $transparent);//simpler than flood fill
        imagealphablending($dst, true);//restore default blending

        imagecopy($dst, $src, 0, 0, 0, 0, imagesx($src), imagesy($src));
        imagedestroy($src);

        $src = $dst;
        return true;
    }
}
?>