diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index a2becf50a..9f78fdd27 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -32,6 +32,10 @@ Summary: The 2.2.0 release is the fastest running and most stable release in the
 
 - Fixed blurry rendering of image and SVG icons (#1316)
 
+- Added detection of invalid srs values when loading xml (#646)
+
+- Removed muffling of projection errors while rendering (#646)
+
 - Improved logging system (https://github.com/mapnik/mapnik/wiki/Logging)
 
 - Added support for reading images from in memory streams (#1805)
diff --git a/include/mapnik/feature_style_processor_impl.hpp b/include/mapnik/feature_style_processor_impl.hpp
index bd7653ae2..2e8222551 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/feature_style_processor_impl.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/feature_style_processor_impl.hpp
@@ -160,36 +160,29 @@ void feature_style_processor<Processor>::apply(double scale_denom)
     Processor & p = static_cast<Processor&>(*this);
     p.start_map_processing(m_);
 
-    try
-    {
-        projection proj(m_.srs(),true);
-        if (scale_denom <= 0.0)
-            scale_denom = mapnik::scale_denominator(m_.scale(),proj.is_geographic());
-        scale_denom *= scale_factor_;
+    projection proj(m_.srs(),true);
+    if (scale_denom <= 0.0)
+        scale_denom = mapnik::scale_denominator(m_.scale(),proj.is_geographic());
+    scale_denom *= scale_factor_;
 
-        BOOST_FOREACH ( layer const& lyr, m_.layers() )
+    BOOST_FOREACH ( layer const& lyr, m_.layers() )
+    {
+        if (lyr.visible(scale_denom))
         {
-            if (lyr.visible(scale_denom))
-            {
-                std::set<std::string> names;
-                apply_to_layer(lyr,
-                               p,
-                               proj,
-                               m_.scale(),
-                               scale_denom,
-                               m_.width(),
-                               m_.height(),
-                               m_.get_current_extent(),
-                               m_.buffer_size(),
-                               names);
+            std::set<std::string> names;
+            apply_to_layer(lyr,
+                           p,
+                           proj,
+                           m_.scale(),
+                           scale_denom,
+                           m_.width(),
+                           m_.height(),
+                           m_.get_current_extent(),
+                           m_.buffer_size(),
+                           names);
 
-            }
         }
     }
-    catch (proj_init_error const& ex)
-    {
-        MAPNIK_LOG_ERROR(feature_style_processor) << "feature_style_processor: proj_init_error=" << ex.what();
-    }
 
     p.end_map_processing(m_);
 
@@ -207,30 +200,23 @@ void feature_style_processor<Processor>::apply(mapnik::layer const& lyr,
 {
     Processor & p = static_cast<Processor&>(*this);
     p.start_map_processing(m_);
-    try
-    {
-        projection proj(m_.srs(),true);
-        if (scale_denom <= 0.0)
-            scale_denom = mapnik::scale_denominator(m_.scale(),proj.is_geographic());
-        scale_denom *= scale_factor_;
+    projection proj(m_.srs(),true);
+    if (scale_denom <= 0.0)
+        scale_denom = mapnik::scale_denominator(m_.scale(),proj.is_geographic());
+    scale_denom *= scale_factor_;
 
-        if (lyr.visible(scale_denom))
-        {
-            apply_to_layer(lyr,
-                           p,
-                           proj,
-                           m_.scale(),
-                           scale_denom,
-                           m_.width(),
-                           m_.height(),
-                           m_.get_current_extent(),
-                           m_.buffer_size(),
-                           names);
-        }
-    }
-    catch (proj_init_error const& ex)
+    if (lyr.visible(scale_denom))
     {
-        MAPNIK_LOG_ERROR(feature_style_processor) << "feature_style_processor: proj_init_error=" << ex.what();
+        apply_to_layer(lyr,
+                       p,
+                       proj,
+                       m_.scale(),
+                       scale_denom,
+                       m_.width(),
+                       m_.height(),
+                       m_.get_current_extent(),
+                       m_.buffer_size(),
+                       names);
     }
     p.end_map_processing(m_);
 }
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index 5b5698ab6..8dcf8df28 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -199,7 +199,17 @@ void map_parser::parse_map(Map & map, xml_node const& pt, std::string const& bas
                 map.set_background_image(ensure_relative_to_xml(image_filename));
             }
 
-            map.set_srs(map_node.get_attr("srs", map.srs()));
+            std::string srs = map_node.get_attr("srs", map.srs());
+            try
+            {
+                // create throwaway projection object here to ensure it is valid
+                projection proj(srs);
+            }
+            catch (proj_init_error const& ex)
+            {
+                throw mapnik::config_error(ex.what());
+            }
+            map.set_srs(srs);
 
             optional<unsigned> buffer_size = map_node.get_opt_attr<unsigned>("buffer-size");
             if (buffer_size)
@@ -543,9 +553,17 @@ void map_parser::parse_layer(Map & map, xml_node const& node)
     {
         name = node.get_attr("name", std::string("Unnamed"));
 
-        // XXX if no projection is given inherit from map? [DS]
+        // If no projection is given inherit from map
         std::string srs = node.get_attr("srs", map.srs());
-
+        try
+        {
+            // create throwaway projection object here to ensure it is valid
+            projection proj(srs);
+        }
+        catch (proj_init_error const& ex)
+        {
+            throw mapnik::config_error(ex.what());
+        }
         layer lyr(name, srs);
 
         optional<boolean> status = node.get_opt_attr<boolean>("status");
diff --git a/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_layer_srs.xml b/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_layer_srs.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..2fbc25fc8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_layer_srs.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+<Map>
+<Layer srs="+init=invalid_srs_value" />
+</Map>
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_map_srs.xml b/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_map_srs.xml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..16dbf335d
--- /dev/null
+++ b/tests/data/broken_maps/invalid_map_srs.xml
@@ -0,0 +1,2 @@
+<Map srs="+init=invalid_srs_value">
+</Map>
\ No newline at end of file