diff --git a/controller/search.js b/controller/search.js
index 7f7ffb689..35a5f0b5b 100644
--- a/controller/search.js
+++ b/controller/search.js
@@ -31,11 +31,6 @@ function setup( backend, query ){
       body: query( req.clean )
     };
 
-    // use layers field for filtering by type
-    if( req.clean.hasOwnProperty('layers') ){
-      cmd.type = req.clean.layers;
-    }
-
     logger.debug( '[ES req]', cmd );
 
     // query backend
diff --git a/query/search.js b/query/search.js
index 75406fe73..a6c2fd6a9 100644
--- a/query/search.js
+++ b/query/search.js
@@ -43,6 +43,7 @@ query.score( peliasQuery.view.admin_multi_match(adminFields, 'peliasAdmin') );
 query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_circle );
 query.filter( peliasQuery.view.boundary_rect );
 query.filter( peliasQuery.view.sources );
+query.filter( peliasQuery.view.layers );
 // --------------------------------
 
 /**
@@ -59,6 +60,9 @@ function generateQuery( clean ){
   // sources
   vs.var( 'sources', clean.sources);
 
+  // layers
+  vs.var( 'layers', clean.layers);
+
   // size
   if( clean.querySize ) {
     vs.var( 'size', clean.querySize );
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_boundary_country.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_boundary_country.js
index 6af4e840e..94f867b24 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_boundary_country.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_boundary_country.js
@@ -81,7 +81,16 @@ module.exports = {
             'weight': 2
           }]
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'test'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'sort': [ '_score' ],
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
index 6af4b35b2..d6a1478e9 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_full_address.js
@@ -128,7 +128,23 @@ module.exports = {
             'query': 'new york',
             'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'address',
+              'venue',
+              'country',
+              'region',
+              'county',
+              'neighbourhood',
+              'locality',
+              'localadmin'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'size': 10,
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_bbox.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_bbox.js
index 0a8f5ddce..b8dbf3a12 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_bbox.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_bbox.js
@@ -74,14 +74,21 @@ module.exports = {
       }],
       'filter': [{
         'geo_bounding_box': {
+          'type': 'indexed',
           'center_point': {
             'top': 11.51,
             'right': -61.84,
             'bottom': 47.47,
             'left': -103.16
-          },
-          'type': 'indexed'
-        }
+            }
+          }
+        },
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'test'
+            ]
+          }
       }]
     }
   },
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus.js
index e3c027c1c..382732735 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus.js
@@ -101,7 +101,16 @@ module.exports = {
             'weight': 2
           }]
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'test'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'sort': [ '_score' ],
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_bbox.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_bbox.js
index a185ea733..ebc5f7015 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_bbox.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_bbox.js
@@ -104,13 +104,20 @@ module.exports = {
       }],
       'filter': [{
         'geo_bounding_box': {
+          'type': 'indexed',
           'center_point': {
             'top': 11.51,
             'right': -61.84,
             'bottom': 47.47,
             'left': -103.16
-          },
-          'type': 'indexed'
+          }
+        }
+      },
+      {
+        'terms': {
+          'layer': [
+            'test'
+          ]
         }
       }]
     }
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_null_island.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_null_island.js
index 152a0c42c..8f6fe3816 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_null_island.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_focus_null_island.js
@@ -101,6 +101,13 @@ module.exports = {
             'weight': 2
           }]
         }
+      }],
+      'filter':[{
+        'terms': {
+          'layer': [
+            'test'
+          ]
+        }
       }]
     }
   },
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_only.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_only.js
index 2e820c80b..490eb0c96 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_only.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_only.js
@@ -71,7 +71,16 @@ module.exports = {
             'weight': 2
           }]
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'test'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'sort': [ '_score' ],
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_viewport.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_viewport.js
index 4f225a626..ca6414a78 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_viewport.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_linguistic_viewport.js
@@ -113,6 +113,15 @@ module.exports = {
             'boost_mode': 'replace'
           }
         }
+      ],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'test'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
       ]
     }
   },
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
index ec8ff4ea6..10a2bb74e 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_partial_address.js
@@ -96,7 +96,23 @@ module.exports = {
             'query': 'new york',
             'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'address',
+              'venue',
+              'country',
+              'region',
+              'county',
+              'neighbourhood',
+              'locality',
+              'localadmin'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'size': 10,
diff --git a/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js b/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
index cf65b199c..400f561b7 100644
--- a/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
+++ b/test/unit/fixture/search_regions_address.js
@@ -112,7 +112,23 @@ module.exports = {
             'query': 'manhattan',
             'analyzer': 'peliasAdmin'
         }
-      }]
+      }],
+      'filter': [
+        {
+          'terms': {
+            'layer': [
+              'address',
+              'venue',
+              'country',
+              'region',
+              'county',
+              'neighbourhood',
+              'locality',
+              'localadmin'
+            ]
+          }
+        }
+      ]
     }
   },
   'size': 10,