diff --git a/query/reverse_defaults.js b/query/reverse_defaults.js
index 06ad6400..8392183f 100644
--- a/query/reverse_defaults.js
+++ b/query/reverse_defaults.js
@@ -12,7 +12,8 @@ module.exports = _.merge({}, peliasQuery.defaults, {
   'sort:distance:order': 'asc',
   'sort:distance:distance_type': 'plane',
 
-  'boundary:circle:radius': '500km',
+  'boundary:circle:radius': '1km',
+  'boundary:circle:radius:coarse': '500km',
   'boundary:circle:distance_type': 'plane',
   'boundary:circle:optimize_bbox': 'indexed',
   'boundary:circle:_cache': true,
diff --git a/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js b/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
index 52f2980f..06785c44 100644
--- a/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
+++ b/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
@@ -1,4 +1,3 @@
-
 var geo_common = require ('./_geo_common');
 var _ = require('lodash');
 var defaults = require('../query/reverse_defaults');
@@ -30,7 +29,12 @@ module.exports = function sanitize( raw, clean ){
 
     // if no radius was passed, set the default
     if ( _.isUndefined( raw['boundary.circle.radius'] ) ) {
-      raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius'];
+      // the default is small unless layers other than venue or address were explicitly specified
+      if (clean.layers && clean.layers.length > 0 && !_.includes(clean.layers, 'venue') && !_.includes(clean.layers, 'address')) {
+        raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse'];
+      } else {
+        raw['boundary.circle.radius'] = defaults['boundary:circle:radius'];
+      }
     }
 
     // santize the boundary.circle
diff --git a/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js b/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
index e7c62e07..480d06b2 100644
--- a/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
+++ b/test/unit/sanitiser/_geo_reverse.js
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_boundary_country = function(test, common) {
     t.end();
   });
 
-  test('no boundary.circle.radius supplied should be set to default', function(t) {
+  test('no boundary.circle.radius and no layers supplied should be set to default', function(t) {
     var raw = {
       'point.lat': '12.121212',
       'point.lon': '21.212121'
@@ -83,7 +83,32 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_boundary_country = function(test, common) {
     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('no boundary.circle.radius and coarse layers supplied should be set to coarse default', function(t) {
+    var raw = {
+      'point.lat': '12.121212',
+      'point.lon': '21.212121'
+    };
+    var clean = { layers: 'coarse' };
+    var errorsAndWarnings = sanitize(raw, clean);
 
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.radius'], defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse'], 'should be from defaults');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.radius'], parseFloat(defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse']), 'should be same as raw');
+    t.end();
+  });
+
+  test('no boundary.circle.radius and coarse layer supplied should be set to coarse default', function(t) {
+    var raw = {
+      'point.lat': '12.121212',
+      'point.lon': '21.212121'
+    };
+    var clean = { layers: 'locality' };
+    var errorsAndWarnings = sanitize(raw, clean);
+
+    t.equals(raw['boundary.circle.radius'], defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse'], 'should be from defaults');
+    t.equals(clean['boundary.circle.radius'], parseFloat(defaults['boundary:circle:radius:coarse']), 'should be same as raw');
+    t.end();
   });
 
   test('explicit boundary.circle.radius should be used instead of default', function(t) {
@@ -98,9 +123,7 @@ module.exports.tests.sanitize_boundary_country = function(test, common) {
     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) {