diff --git a/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp b/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
index 1630460dd..8fd80bc99 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/xml_node.hpp
@@ -92,6 +92,9 @@ public:
     void add_attribute(const char * name, const char * value);
     attribute_map const& get_attributes() const;
 
+    bool ignore() const;
+    void set_ignore(bool ignore) const;
+
     bool processed() const;
     void set_processed(bool processed) const;
 
@@ -130,6 +133,7 @@ private:
     bool is_text_;
     unsigned line_;
     mutable bool processed_;
+    mutable bool ignore_;
     static std::string xml_text;
 };
 
diff --git a/src/load_map.cpp b/src/load_map.cpp
index eaf985ad2..ce3eaead2 100644
--- a/src/load_map.cpp
+++ b/src/load_map.cpp
@@ -540,6 +540,14 @@ void map_parser::parse_layer(Map & map, xml_node const& node)
     std::string name;
     try
     {
+        optional<mapnik::boolean_type> status = node.get_opt_attr<mapnik::boolean_type>("status");
+
+        // return early is status is off
+        if (status && !(*status)){
+            node.set_ignore(true);
+            return;
+        }
+
         name = node.get_attr("name", std::string("Unnamed"));
 
         // If no projection is given inherit from map
@@ -555,7 +563,7 @@ void map_parser::parse_layer(Map & map, xml_node const& node)
         }
         layer lyr(name, srs);
 
-        optional<mapnik::boolean_type> status = node.get_opt_attr<mapnik::boolean_type>("status");
+
         if (status)
         {
             lyr.set_active(* status);
@@ -1656,33 +1664,35 @@ void map_parser::find_unused_nodes(xml_node const& root)
 
 void map_parser::find_unused_nodes_recursive(xml_node const& node, std::string & error_message)
 {
-    if (!node.processed())
+    if (!node.ignore())
     {
-        if (node.is_text())
+        if (!node.processed())
         {
-            error_message += "\n* text '" + node.text() + "'";
+            if (node.is_text())
+            {
+                error_message += "\n* text '" + node.text() + "'";
+            }
+            else
+            {
+                error_message += "\n* node '" + node.name() + "' at line " + node.line_to_string();
+            }
+            return; //All attributes and children are automatically unprocessed, too.
         }
-        else
+        xml_node::attribute_map const& attrs = node.get_attributes();
+        for (auto const& attr : attrs)
         {
-            error_message += "\n* node '" + node.name() + "' at line " + node.line_to_string();
+            if (!attr.second.processed)
+            {
+                error_message += "\n* attribute '" + attr.first +
+                    "' with value '" + attr.second.value +
+                    "' at line " + node.line_to_string();
+            }
         }
-        return; //All attributes and children are automatically unprocessed, too.
-    }
-    xml_node::attribute_map const& attrs = node.get_attributes();
-    for (auto const& attr : attrs)
-    {
-        if (!attr.second.processed)
+        for (auto const& child_node : node)
         {
-            error_message += "\n* attribute '" + attr.first +
-                "' with value '" + attr.second.value +
-                "' at line " + node.line_to_string();
+            find_unused_nodes_recursive(child_node, error_message);
         }
     }
-
-    for (auto const& child_node : node)
-    {
-        find_unused_nodes_recursive(child_node, error_message);
-    }
 }
 
 } // end of namespace mapnik
diff --git a/src/xml_tree.cpp b/src/xml_tree.cpp
index f2f79bb85..0e2caa1c4 100644
--- a/src/xml_tree.cpp
+++ b/src/xml_tree.cpp
@@ -169,7 +169,8 @@ xml_node::xml_node(xml_tree &tree, std::string && name, unsigned line, bool is_t
       name_(std::move(name)),
       is_text_(is_text),
       line_(line),
-      processed_(false) {}
+      processed_(false),
+      ignore_(false) {}
 
 std::string xml_node::xml_text = "<xmltext>";
 
@@ -244,6 +245,16 @@ bool xml_node::processed() const
     return processed_;
 }
 
+void xml_node::set_ignore(bool ignore) const
+{
+    ignore_ = ignore;
+}
+
+bool xml_node::ignore() const
+{
+    return ignore_;
+}
+
 std::size_t xml_node::size() const
 {
     return children_.size();