diff --git a/src/cairo/cairo_renderer.cpp b/src/cairo/cairo_renderer.cpp
index 162fd6096..e3a8f34e9 100644
--- a/src/cairo/cairo_renderer.cpp
+++ b/src/cairo/cairo_renderer.cpp
@@ -149,6 +149,7 @@ void cairo_renderer<T>::setup(Map const& map)
     {
         cairo_save_restore guard(context_);
         context_.set_color(*bg);
+        context_.set_operator(composite_mode_e::src);
         context_.paint();
     }
     boost::optional<std::string> const& image_filename = map.background_image();
diff --git a/test/unit/map/background.cpp b/test/unit/map/background.cpp
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..18c1b4bf6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/map/background.cpp
@@ -0,0 +1,66 @@
+
+#include "catch.hpp"
+
+#include <mapnik/map.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/agg_renderer.hpp>
+
+#if defined(HAVE_CAIRO)
+#include <mapnik/cairo/cairo_renderer.hpp>
+#include <mapnik/cairo/cairo_image_util.hpp>
+#endif
+
+TEST_CASE("map") {
+
+SECTION("set background - agg") {
+
+    mapnik::Map map(256, 256);
+    mapnik::image_rgba8 image(map.width(), map.height());
+    const mapnik::color c1(255, 0, 0);
+    mapnik::fill(image, c1);
+
+    CHECK(image(0, 0) == c1.rgba());
+
+    // Fully transparent black should replace red color
+    const mapnik::color c2(0, 0, 0, 0);
+    map.set_background(c2);
+    mapnik::agg_renderer<mapnik::image_rgba8> ren(map, image);
+    ren.apply();
+
+    CHECK(image(0, 0) == c2.rgba());
+}
+
+#if defined(HAVE_CAIRO)
+SECTION("set background - cairo") {
+
+    mapnik::Map map(256, 256);
+    mapnik::cairo_surface_ptr image_surface(
+        cairo_image_surface_create(CAIRO_FORMAT_ARGB32, map.width(), map.height()),
+        mapnik::cairo_surface_closer());
+    mapnik::cairo_ptr image_context(mapnik::create_context(image_surface));
+
+    cairo_set_source_rgba(image_context.get(), 1.0, 0.0, 0.0, 1.0);
+    cairo_paint(image_context.get());
+
+    {
+        mapnik::image_rgba8 image(map.width(), map.height());
+        mapnik::cairo_image_to_rgba8(image, image_surface);
+        const mapnik::color c1(255, 0, 0);
+        CHECK(image(0, 0) == c1.rgba());
+    }
+
+    // Fully transparent black should replace red color
+    const mapnik::color c2(0, 0, 0, 0);
+    map.set_background(c2);
+    mapnik::cairo_renderer<mapnik::cairo_ptr> ren(map, image_context, 1.0);
+    ren.apply();
+
+    {
+        mapnik::image_rgba8 image(map.width(), map.height());
+        mapnik::cairo_image_to_rgba8(image, image_surface);
+        CHECK(image(0, 0) == c2.rgba());
+    }
+}
+#endif
+
+}
+