diff --git a/src/servers/app/ServerBitmap.h b/src/servers/app/ServerBitmap.h
index 4df7cba67f..ee2a527374 100644
--- a/src/servers/app/ServerBitmap.h
+++ b/src/servers/app/ServerBitmap.h
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ class ServerBitmap {
 			uint32			AreaOffset() const;
 
 			void			SetOverlay(::Overlay* cookie);
-		::Overlay*	Overlay() const;
+			::Overlay*		Overlay() const;
 
 	//! Does a shallow copy of the bitmap passed to it
 	inline	void			ShallowCopy(const ServerBitmap *from);
diff --git a/src/servers/app/ServerWindow.cpp b/src/servers/app/ServerWindow.cpp
index 85d0e3817e..4c4c8f7c67 100644
--- a/src/servers/app/ServerWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/servers/app/ServerWindow.cpp
@@ -1514,13 +1514,23 @@ ServerWindow::_DispatchViewMessage(int32 code,
 			if (status == B_OK) {
 				ServerBitmap* bitmap = fServerApp->FindBitmap(bitmapToken);
 				if (bitmapToken == -1 || bitmap != NULL) {
+					bool wasOverlay = fCurrentLayer->ViewBitmap() != NULL
+						&& fCurrentLayer->ViewBitmap()->Overlay() != NULL;
+
 					// TODO: this is a race condition: the bitmap could have been
 					//	deleted in the mean time!!
 					fCurrentLayer->SetViewBitmap(bitmap, srcRect, dstRect,
 						resizingMode, options);
 
-					BRegion dirty(fCurrentLayer->Bounds());
-					fWindowLayer->InvalidateView(fCurrentLayer, dirty);
+					// TODO: if we revert the view color overlay handling
+					//	in ViewLayer::Draw() to the R5 version, we never
+					//	need to invalidate the view for overlays.
+
+					// invalidate view - but only if this is a non-overlay switch
+					if (bitmap == NULL || bitmap->Overlay() == NULL || !wasOverlay) {
+						BRegion dirty(fCurrentLayer->Bounds());
+						fWindowLayer->InvalidateView(fCurrentLayer, dirty);
+					}
 
 					if (bitmap != NULL && bitmap->Overlay() != NULL)
 						colorKey = bitmap->Overlay()->Color().GetColor32();
diff --git a/src/servers/app/ViewLayer.h b/src/servers/app/ViewLayer.h
index e17f194d26..3e3a7080c6 100644
--- a/src/servers/app/ViewLayer.h
+++ b/src/servers/app/ViewLayer.h
@@ -141,6 +141,9 @@ class ViewLayer {
 								{ return fViewColor; }
 			void			SetViewColor(const RGBColor& color)
 								{ fViewColor = color; }
+
+			ServerBitmap*	ViewBitmap() const
+								{ return fViewBitmap; }
 			void			SetViewBitmap(ServerBitmap* bitmap, BRect sourceRect,
 								BRect destRect, int32 resizingMode, int32 options);