diff --git a/controller/place.js b/controller/place.js
index 2a4462cc..c4e78978 100644
--- a/controller/place.js
+++ b/controller/place.js
@@ -13,14 +13,35 @@ function setup( backend ){
       return next();
     }
 
-    var query = req.clean.ids.map( function(id) {
+    /* req.clean.ids contains an array of objects with id and types properties.
+     * types is an array of one or more types, since it can't always be known which single
+     * type a gid might belong to (osmnode and osmway both have source osm and layer venue).
+     *
+     * However, the mget Elasticsearch query only accepts a single type at a
+     * time.
+     *
+     * So, first create a new array that, has an entry
+     * with each type and id combination. This requires creating a new array with more entries
+     * than req.clean.ids in the case where entries have multiple types.
+     */
+
+    var recordsToReturn = req.clean.ids.reduce(function (acc, ids_element) {
+      ids_element.types.forEach(function(type) {
+        acc.push({
+          id: ids_element.id,
+          type: type
+        });
+      });
+      return acc;
+    }, []);
+
+    /*
+     * Next, map the list of records to an Elasticsearch mget query
+     */
+    var query = recordsToReturn.map( function(id) {
       return {
         _index: 'pelias',
-        /*
-         * some gids aren't resolvable to a single type (ex: osmnode and osmway
-         * both have source osm and layer venue), so expect an array of
-         * possible values. */
-        _type: id.types,
+        _type: id.type,
         _id: id.id
       };
     });
diff --git a/test/unit/controller/place.js b/test/unit/controller/place.js
index 1d38f5d5..e8a8c333 100644
--- a/test/unit/controller/place.js
+++ b/test/unit/controller/place.js
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ module.exports.tests.functional_success = function(test, common) {
 
   test('functional success', function(t) {
     var backend = mockBackend( 'client/mget/ok/1', function( cmd ){
-      t.deepEqual(cmd, { body: { docs: [ { _id: 123, _index: 'pelias', _type: [ 'a' ] } ] } }, 'correct backend command');
+      t.deepEqual(cmd, { body: { docs: [ { _id: 123, _index: 'pelias', _type: 'a' } ] } }, 'correct backend command');
     });
     var controller = setup( backend );
     var res = {
@@ -70,7 +70,7 @@ module.exports.tests.functional_success = function(test, common) {
 module.exports.tests.functional_failure = function(test, common) {
   test('functional failure', function(t) {
     var backend = mockBackend( 'client/mget/fail/1', function( cmd ){
-      t.deepEqual(cmd, { body: { docs: [ { _id: 123, _index: 'pelias', _type: [ 'b' ] } ] } }, 'correct backend command');
+      t.deepEqual(cmd, { body: { docs: [ { _id: 123, _index: 'pelias', _type: 'b' } ] } }, 'correct backend command');
     });
     var controller = setup( backend );
     var req = { clean: { ids: [ {'id' : 123, types: [ 'b' ] } ] }, errors: [], warnings: [] };