diff --git a/frontend-js/src/main/js/gui/leftPanel/OverlayPanel.js b/frontend-js/src/main/js/gui/leftPanel/OverlayPanel.js
index ad37c125c195eb7df8100f049686d28253205a14..206634e95edfe4320a4249f8b1ef72416da24445 100644
--- a/frontend-js/src/main/js/gui/leftPanel/OverlayPanel.js
+++ b/frontend-js/src/main/js/gui/leftPanel/OverlayPanel.js
@@ -51,7 +51,16 @@ function OverlayPanel(params) {
   $(self.getElement()).on("click", "[name='overlayLink']", function () {
     var overlayId = $(this).attr("data");
     self.getMap().openDataOverlay(overlayId);
-    $(this.parentNode.parentNode).addClass('active').siblings().removeClass('active');
+  });
+  self.getMap().addListener("onBackgroundOverlayChange", function (e) {
+    var overlayId = e.arg.toString();
+    var buttons = $("[name='overlayLink']", self.getElement());
+    for (var i = 0; i < buttons.length; i++) {
+      var button = buttons[i];
+      if ($(button).attr("data").toString() === overlayId) {
+        $(button.parentNode.parentNode).addClass('active').siblings().removeClass('active');
+      }
+    }
   });
   $(self.getElement()).on("click", "[name='download-overlay']", function () {
     var overlayId = $(this).attr("data");
diff --git a/frontend-js/src/main/js/map/CustomMap.js b/frontend-js/src/main/js/map/CustomMap.js
index 882a665b97767d31e7f0e4142de2827917192df0..26824f4642b5aecc05381ef15e6723cc2e1152c6 100644
--- a/frontend-js/src/main/js/map/CustomMap.js
+++ b/frontend-js/src/main/js/map/CustomMap.js
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@ function CustomMap(options) {
   this.registerListenerType("onBioEntityClick");
   this.registerListenerType("onShowOverlay");
   this.registerListenerType("onHideOverlay");
+  this.registerListenerType("onBackgroundOverlayChange");
 
   this._selectedOverlays = [];
 
@@ -230,14 +231,18 @@ CustomMap.prototype.openDataOverlay = function (param) {
           });
         }
       } else {
-        self.getGoogleMap().setMapTypeId(identifier.toString());
+        if (identifier.toString() === self.getGoogleMap().getMapTypeId()) {
+          return Promise.resolve();
+        } else {
+          self.getGoogleMap().setMapTypeId(identifier.toString());
 
-        var submaps = self.getSubmaps();
-        for (var i = 0; i < submaps.length; i++) {
-          var submap = submaps[i];
-          submap.openDataOverlay(identifier);
+          var submaps = self.getSubmaps();
+          for (var i = 0; i < submaps.length; i++) {
+            var submap = submaps[i];
+            submap.openDataOverlay(identifier);
+          }
+          return self.callListeners("onBackgroundOverlayChange", identifier);
         }
-        return Promise.resolve();
       }
     }).then(function () {
       return self.callListeners("onShowOverlay", overlayToOpen);
diff --git a/frontend-js/src/test/js/map/CustomMap-test.js b/frontend-js/src/test/js/map/CustomMap-test.js
index 6c14e03b7afa5b4a32510ed961baaadd070d47f2..f2aac9e96cded5bf6715c33f0ca1a398ff6b8446 100644
--- a/frontend-js/src/test/js/map/CustomMap-test.js
+++ b/frontend-js/src/test/js/map/CustomMap-test.js
@@ -132,6 +132,35 @@ describe('CustomMap', function () {
       });
     });
 
+    it("check backgroundChangeListener", function () {
+      var map = helper.createCustomMap();
+      var overlay = helper.createOverlay();
+      overlay.setInitialized(true);
+      overlay.setInputDataAvailable(true);
+      map.getProject().addDataOverlay(overlay);
+      var overlay2 = helper.createOverlay();
+      overlay2.setInitialized(true);
+      overlay2.setInputDataAvailable(true);
+      map.getProject().addDataOverlay(overlay2);
+
+      var emptyBackground = helper.createOverlay();
+      emptyBackground.setInputDataAvailable(false);
+      emptyBackground.setName("Empty");
+      map.getProject().addDataOverlay(emptyBackground);
+
+      var counter = 0;
+      map.addListener("onBackgroundOverlayChange", function () {
+        counter++;
+      });
+
+      return map.openDataOverlay(overlay.getId()).then(function () {
+        assert.equal(1, counter, "listener wasn't fired");
+        return map.openDataOverlay(overlay2.getId());
+      }).then(function () {
+        assert.equal(1, counter, "listener shouldn't be fired again because nothing changed");
+      });
+    });
+
     it("simple", function () {
       var map = helper.createCustomMap();
       var alias = helper.createAlias(map);