diff --git a/sanitiser/_geo_common.js b/sanitiser/_geo_common.js
index c74db609..153128bc 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_geo_common.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_geo_common.js
@@ -56,6 +56,8 @@ function sanitize_rect( key_prefix, clean, raw, bbox_is_required ) {
  * @param {bool} circle_is_required
  */
 function sanitize_circle( key_prefix, clean, raw, circle_is_required ) {
+  // "boundary.circle", clean, raw, false
+
   // the names we use to define the centroid
   var mandatoryProps = [ 'lat', 'lon' ];
 
diff --git a/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js b/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
index 6dc134cc..bac20b29 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
@@ -1,5 +1,7 @@
 
 var geo_common = require ('./_geo_common');
+var check = require('check-types');
+var defaults = require('../query/defaults');
 var LAT_LON_IS_REQUIRED = true,
     CIRCLE_IS_REQUIRED = false,
     CIRCLE_MUST_BE_COMPLETE = false;
@@ -20,20 +22,21 @@ module.exports = function sanitize( raw, clean ){
   }
 
   try {
+    // first verify that point.lat/point.lon are valid
     geo_common.sanitize_point( 'point', clean, raw, LAT_LON_IS_REQUIRED );
 
-    // this hack is to allow point.lat/point.lon to be used interchanagbly
-    // with boundary.circle.lat/boundary.circle.lon
-    //
-    // if clean doesn't have boundary.circle.lat but clean has point.lat, set boundary.circle.lat to point.lat
-    if( !clean.hasOwnProperty('boundary.circle.lat') && clean.hasOwnProperty('point.lat') ){
-      raw['boundary.circle.lat'] = clean['point.lat'];
-    }
-    if( !clean.hasOwnProperty('boundary.circle.lon') && clean.hasOwnProperty('point.lon') ){
-      raw['boundary.circle.lon'] = clean['point.lon'];
+    // overwrite boundary.circle.lat/lon with point.lat/lon
+    raw['boundary.circle.lat'] = clean['point.lat'];
+    raw['boundary.circle.lon'] = clean['point.lon'];
+
+    // if no radius was passed, set the default
+    if (!check.assigned(raw['boundary.circle.radius'])) {
+      raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius'];
     }
 
+    // santize the boundary.circle
     geo_common.sanitize_circle( 'boundary.circle', clean, raw, CIRCLE_IS_REQUIRED );
+
   }
   catch (err) {
     messages.errors.push( err.message );
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
index 74f349d0..c7fb778a 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var sanitize = require('../../../sanitiser/_geo_reverse');
+var defaults = require('../../../query/defaults');
 
 module.exports.tests = {};
 
@@ -54,6 +55,52 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_boundary_country = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
+  test('boundary.circle.lat/lon should be overridden with point.lat/lon', function(t) {
+    var raw = {
+      'point.lat': '12.121212',
+      'point.lon': '21.212121',
+      'boundary.circle.lat': '13.131313',
+      'boundary.circle.lon': '31.313131'
+    };
+    var clean = {};
+    var errorsAndWarnings = sanitize(raw, clean);
+
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.lat'], 12.121212, 'should be set to point.lat');
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.lon'], 21.212121, 'should be set to point.lon');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.lat'], 12.121212, 'should be set to point.lat');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.lon'], 21.212121, 'should be set to point.lon');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
+  test('no boundary.circle.radius supplied should be set to default', function(t) {
+    var raw = {
+      'point.lat': '12.121212',
+      'point.lon': '21.212121'
+    };
+    var clean = {};
+    var errorsAndWarnings = sanitize(raw, clean);
+
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.radius'], defaults['boundary:circle:radius'], 'should be from defaults');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.radius'], parseFloat(defaults['boundary:circle:radius']), 'should be same as raw');
+    t.end();
+
+  });
+
+  test('explicit boundary.circle.radius should be used instead of default', function(t) {
+    var raw = {
+      'point.lat': '12.121212',
+      'point.lon': '21.212121',
+      'boundary.circle.radius': '3248732857km' // this will never be the default
+    };
+    var clean = {};
+    var errorsAndWarnings = sanitize(raw, clean);
+
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.radius'], '3248732857km', 'should be parsed float');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.radius'], 3248732857.0, 'should be copied from raw');
+    t.end();
+
+  });
+
 };
 
 module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
index 759aef28..85943c73 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/reverse.js
@@ -4,11 +4,13 @@
 var reverse  = require('../../../sanitiser/reverse'),
     sanitize = reverse.sanitize,
     middleware = reverse.middleware,
+    defaults = require('../../../query/defaults'),
     defaultError = 'missing param \'lat\'',
     defaultClean =  { 'point.lat': 0,
                       'point.lon': 0,
                       'boundary.circle.lat': 0,
                       'boundary.circle.lon': 0,
+                      'boundary.circle.radius': parseFloat(defaults['boundary:circle:radius']),
                       types: {
                       },
                       size: 10,