diff --git a/code/boot.js b/code/boot.js
index 7d5a45ec..fd4d56ae 100644
--- a/code/boot.js
+++ b/code/boot.js
@@ -200,14 +200,6 @@ window.setupMap = function() {
 
   map.addControl(window.layerChooser);
 
-  // set the map AFTER adding the layer chooser, or Chrome reorders the
-  // layers. This likely leads to broken layer selection because the
-  // views/cookie order does not match the layer chooser order.
-  try {
-    convertCookieToLocalStorage('ingress.intelmap.type');
-    map.addLayer(views[localStorage['ingress.intelmap.type']]);
-  } catch(e) { map.addLayer(views[0]); }
-
   map.attributionControl.setPrefix('');
   // listen for changes and store them in cookies
   map.on('moveend', window.storeMapPosition);
@@ -228,10 +220,6 @@ window.setupMap = function() {
     console.log('Remove all resonators');
   });
 
-  map.on('baselayerchange', function () {
-    var selInd = $('[name=leaflet-base-layers]:checked').parent().index();
-    localStorage['ingress.intelmap.type']=selInd;
-  });
 
   // map update status handling & update map hooks
   // ensures order of calls
@@ -248,6 +236,43 @@ window.setupMap = function() {
 
 };
 
+//adds a base layer to the map. done separately from the above, so that plugins that add base layers can be the default
+window.setMapBaseLayer = function() {
+  //create a map name -> layer mapping - depends on internals of L.Control.Layers
+  var nameToLayer = {};
+  var firstLayer = null;
+
+  for (i in window.layerChooser._layers) {
+    var obj = window.layerChooser._layers[i];
+    if (!obj.overlay) {
+      nameToLayer[obj.name] = obj.layer;
+      if (!firstLayer) firstLayer = obj.layer;
+    }
+  }
+
+  var baseLayer = nameToLayer[localStorage['iitc-base-map']] || firstLayer;
+  map.addLayer(baseLayer);
+
+  //after choosing a base layer, ensure the zoom is valid for this layer
+  //(needs to be done here - as we don't know the base layer zoom limit before this)
+  map.setZoom(map.getZoom());
+
+
+  //event to track layer changes and store the name
+  map.on('baselayerchange', function() {
+    for(i in window.layerChooser._layers) {
+      var obj = window.layerChooser._layers[i];
+      if (!obj.overlay && map.hasLayer(obj.layer)) {
+        localStorage['iitc-base-map'] = obj.name;
+        break;
+      }
+    }
+
+  });
+
+
+}
+
 // renders player details into the website. Since the player info is
 // included as inline script in the original site, the data is static
 // and cannot be updated.
@@ -412,6 +437,8 @@ function boot() {
       }
     });
 
+  window.setMapBaseLayer();
+
   window.runOnSmartphonesAfterBoot();
 
   // workaround for #129. Not sure why this is required.
diff --git a/code/location.js b/code/location.js
index efa85586..87ac0a27 100644
--- a/code/location.js
+++ b/code/location.js
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ window.getPosition = function() {
     var lat = parseInt(getURLParam('latE6'))/1E6 || 0.0;
     var lng = parseInt(getURLParam('lngE6'))/1E6 || 0.0;
     var z = parseInt(getURLParam('z')) || 17;
-    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z > 18 ? 18 : z};
+    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z};
   }
 
   if(getURLParam('ll')) {
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ window.getPosition = function() {
     var lat = parseFloat(getURLParam('ll').split(",")[0]) || 0.0;
     var lng = parseFloat(getURLParam('ll').split(",")[1]) || 0.0;
     var z = parseInt(getURLParam('z')) || 17;
-    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z > 18 ? 18 : z};
+    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z};
   }
 
   if(readCookie('ingress.intelmap.lat') && readCookie('ingress.intelmap.lng')) {
@@ -45,10 +45,10 @@ window.getPosition = function() {
     if(lat < -90  || lat > 90) lat = 0.0;
     if(lng < -180 || lng > 180) lng = 0.0;
 
-    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z > 18 ? 18 : z};
+    return {center: new L.LatLng(lat, lng), zoom: z};
   }
 
-  setTimeout("window.map.locate({setView : true, maxZoom: 13});", 50);
+  setTimeout("window.map.locate({setView : true});", 50);
 
   return {center: new L.LatLng(0.0, 0.0), zoom: 1};
 }