--- libImaging/Imaging.h
+++ libImaging/Imaging.h
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
 struct ImagingMemoryInstance {
 
     /* Format */
-    char mode[4+1];	/* Band names ("1", "L", "P", "RGB", "RGBA", "CMYK") */
+    char mode[6+1];	/* Band names ("1", "L", "P", "RGB", "RGBA", "CMYK", "YCbCr", "BGR;xy") */
     int type;		/* Data type (IMAGING_TYPE_*) */
     int depth;		/* Depth (ignored in this version) */
     int bands;		/* Number of bands (1, 2, 3, or 4) */
--- PIL/Image.py
+++ PIL/Image.py
@@ -1494,11 +1494,11 @@
     def split(self):
         "Split image into bands"
 
+        self.load()
         if self.im.bands == 1:
             ims = [self.copy()]
         else:
             ims = []
-            self.load()
             for i in range(self.im.bands):
                 ims.append(self._new(self.im.getband(i)))
         return tuple(ims)