diff --git a/controller/search.js b/controller/search.js
index 4371e274..0ed1f9cd 100644
--- a/controller/search.js
+++ b/controller/search.js
@@ -1,4 +1,5 @@
 var service = { search: require('../service/search') };
+var types = require ( '../helper/types' );
 
 function setup( backend, query ){
 
@@ -15,13 +16,11 @@ function setup( backend, query ){
       body: query( req.clean )
     };
 
-    if (req.clean.types && req.clean.types.from_layers) {
-      cmd.type = req.clean.types.from_layers;
-    }
-
-    // set type if input suggests targeting a layer(s)
-    if (req.clean.default_layers_set && req.clean.parsed_input) {
-      cmd.type = req.clean.parsed_input.target_layer || cmd.type;
+    // don't directly set cmd.type from types helper to avoid sometimes
+    // setting cmd.type to undefined (having the key not set is cleaner)
+    var type = types(req.clean.types);
+    if (type !== undefined) {
+      cmd.type = type;
     }
 
     // query backend
diff --git a/helper/types.js b/helper/types.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..30ab74d5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/helper/types.js
@@ -0,0 +1,15 @@
+var valid_types = require( '../query/indeces' );
+
+module.exports = function calculate_types(clean_types) {
+  if (!clean_types) {
+    return undefined;
+  }
+
+  if (clean_types.from_layers) {
+    return clean_types.from_layers;
+  }
+
+  if (clean_types.from_address_parser) {
+    return clean_types.from_address_parser;
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/types.js b/test/unit/helper/types.js
new file mode 100644
index 00000000..1e7d1813
--- /dev/null
+++ b/test/unit/helper/types.js
@@ -0,0 +1,67 @@
+var types = require('../../../helper/types');
+
+var valid_types = require( '../../../query/indeces' );
+module.exports.tests = {};
+
+module.exports.tests.no_cleaned_types = function(test, common) {
+  test('no cleaned types', function(t) {
+    var actual = types(undefined);
+    t.equal(actual, undefined, 'all valid types returned for empty input');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
+  test('no cleaned types', function(t) {
+    var cleaned_types = {};
+    var actual = types(cleaned_types);
+    t.equal(actual, undefined, 'all valid types returned for empty input');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.address_parser = function(test, common) {
+  test('address parser specifies only admin layers', function(t) {
+    var cleaned_types = {
+      from_address_parser: ['admin0'] // simplified return value from address parser
+    };
+    var actual = types(cleaned_types);
+    var expected = ['admin0']; // simplified expected value for all admin layers
+    t.deepEqual(actual, expected, 'only layers specified by address parser returned');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.layers_parameter = function(test, common) {
+  test('layers parameter specifies only some layers', function(t) {
+    var cleaned_types = {
+      from_layers: ['geonames']
+    };
+    var actual = types(cleaned_types);
+    var expected = ['geonames'];
+    t.deepEqual(actual, expected, 'only types specified by layers parameter returned');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.tests.layers_parameter_and_address_parser = function(test, common) {
+  test('layers parameter and address parser present', function(t) {
+    var cleaned_types = {
+      from_layers: ['geonames'],
+      from_address_parser: ['admin0'] // simplified return value from address parse
+    };
+    var actual = types(cleaned_types);
+    var expected = ['geonames'];
+    t.deepEqual(actual, expected, 'layers parameter overrides address parser completely');
+    t.end();
+  });
+};
+
+module.exports.all = function (tape, common) {
+
+  function test(name, testFunction) {
+    return tape('types: ' + name, testFunction);
+  }
+
+  for( var testCase in module.exports.tests ){
+    module.exports.tests[testCase](test, common);
+  }
+};
diff --git a/test/unit/run.js b/test/unit/run.js
index 619da765..90a14278 100644
--- a/test/unit/run.js
+++ b/test/unit/run.js
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@ var tests = [
   require('./helper/geojsonify'),
   require('./helper/outputSchema'),
   require('./helper/adminFields'),
+  require('./helper/types'),
 ];
 
 tests.map(function(t) {