diff --git a/helper/geojsonify.js b/helper/geojsonify.js
index b4b57536..dfa177ca 100644
--- a/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -8,11 +8,13 @@ var GeoJSON = require('geojson'),
     _ = require('lodash');
 
 // Properties to be copied
+// If a property is identified as a single string, assume it should be presented as a string in response
+// If something other than string is desired, use the following structure: { name: 'category', type: 'array' }
 var DETAILS_PROPS = [
   'housenumber',
   'street',
   'postalcode',
-  'confidence',
+  { name: 'confidence', type: 'default' },
   'distance',
   'country',
   'country_gid',
@@ -40,10 +42,10 @@ var DETAILS_PROPS = [
   'borough_a',
   'neighbourhood',
   'neighbourhood_gid',
-  'bounding_box'
+  { name: 'bounding_box', type: 'default' },
+  { name: 'category', type: 'array' }
 ];
 
-
 function lookupSource(src) {
   return src.source;
 }
@@ -217,26 +219,65 @@ function computeBBox(geojson, geojsonExtentPoints) {
 function copyProperties( source, props, dst ) {
   props.forEach( function ( prop ) {
 
-    if ( source.hasOwnProperty( prop ) ) {
-
-      // array value, take first item in array (at this time only used for admin values)
-      if (source[prop] instanceof Array) {
-        if (source[prop].length === 0) {
-          return;
-        }
-        if (source[prop][0]) {
-          dst[prop] = source[prop][0];
-        }
+    var property = {
+      name: prop.name || prop,
+      type: prop.type || 'string'
+    };
+
+    var value = null;
+    if ( source.hasOwnProperty( property.name ) ) {
+
+      switch (property.type) {
+        case 'string':
+          value = getStringValue(source[property.name]);
+          break;
+        case 'array':
+          value = getArrayValue(source[property.name]);
+          break;
+        // default behavior is to copy property exactly as is
+        default:
+          value = source[property.name];
       }
 
-      // simple value
-      else {
-        dst[prop] = source[prop];
+      if (_.isNumber(value) || (value && !_.isEmpty(value))) {
+        dst[property.name] = value;
       }
     }
   });
 }
 
+function getStringValue(property) {
+  // isEmpty check works for all types of values: strings, arrays, objects
+  if (_.isEmpty(property)) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  if (_.isString(property)) {
+    return property;
+  }
+
+  // array value, take first item in array (at this time only used for admin values)
+  if (_.isArray(property)) {
+    return property[0];
+  }
+
+  return _.toString(property);
+}
+
+
+function getArrayValue(property) {
+  // isEmpty check works for all types of values: strings, arrays, objects
+  if (_.isEmpty(property)) {
+    return '';
+  }
+
+  if (_.isArray(property)) {
+    return property;
+  }
+
+  return [property];
+}
+
 /**
  * Create a gid from a document
  * @TODO modify all importers to create separate source and layer fields to remove mapping
diff --git a/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js b/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
index 6f3581c5..8ec97396 100644
--- a/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
+++ b/test/unit/helper/geojsonify.js
@@ -153,7 +153,11 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
           'neighbourhood': 'test3',
           'housenumber': '13',
           'street': 'Liverpool Road',
-          'postalcode': 'N1 0RW'
+          'postalcode': 'N1 0RW',
+          'category': [
+            'food',
+            'nightlife'
+          ]
         }
       },
       {
@@ -208,7 +212,11 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
           'county': 'New York',
           'borough': 'Manhattan',
           'locality': 'New York',
-          'neighbourhood': 'Koreatown'
+          'neighbourhood': 'Koreatown',
+          'category': [
+            'tourism',
+            'transport'
+          ]
         }
       }
     ]
@@ -245,7 +253,7 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
           'default': 'East New York'
         },
         'source_id': '85816607',
-        'category': [],
+        'category': ['government'],
         '_id': '85816607',
         '_type': 'neighbourhood',
         '_score': 21.434,
@@ -328,6 +336,7 @@ module.exports.tests.search = function(test, common) {
             'source': 'whosonfirst',
             'source_id': '85816607',
             'name': 'East New York',
+            'category': ['government'],
             'confidence': 0.888,
             'country': 'United States',
             'country_gid': '85633793',