diff --git a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
index 64700379894..f1fa485ab62 100644
--- a/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
+++ b/src/app/qgisapp.cpp
@@ -5911,6 +5911,7 @@ void QgisApp::mergeSelectedFeatures()
   }
 
   //get initial selection (may be altered by attribute merge dialog later)
+  QgsFeatureIds featureIds = vl->selectedFeaturesIds();
   QgsFeatureList featureList = vl->selectedFeatures();  //get QList<QgsFeature>
   bool canceled;
   QgsGeometry* unionGeom = unionGeometries( vl, featureList, canceled );
@@ -5939,9 +5940,9 @@ void QgisApp::mergeSelectedFeatures()
     return;
   }
 
-  QgsFeatureList featureListAfter = vl->selectedFeatures();
+  QgsFeatureIds featureIdsAfter = vl->selectedFeaturesIds();
 
-  if ( featureListAfter.size() < 2 )
+  if ( featureIdsAfter.size() < 2 )
   {
     QMessageBox::information( 0, tr( "Not enough features selected" ), tr( "The merge tool requires at least two selected features" ) );
     delete unionGeom;
@@ -5949,10 +5950,11 @@ void QgisApp::mergeSelectedFeatures()
   }
 
   //if the user changed the feature selection in the merge dialog, we need to repeat the union and check the type
-  if ( featureList.size() != featureListAfter.size() )
+  if ( featureIds.size() != featureIdsAfter.size() )
   {
     delete unionGeom;
     bool canceled;
+    QgsFeatureList featureListAfter = vl->selectedFeatures();
     unionGeom = unionGeometries( vl, featureListAfter, canceled );
     if ( !unionGeom )
     {
@@ -5978,10 +5980,10 @@ void QgisApp::mergeSelectedFeatures()
   newFeature.setGeometry( unionGeom );
   newFeature.setAttributes( d.mergedAttributes() );
 
-  QgsFeatureList::const_iterator feature_it = featureListAfter.constBegin();
-  for ( ; feature_it != featureListAfter.constEnd(); ++feature_it )
+  QgsFeatureIds::const_iterator feature_it = featureIdsAfter.constBegin();
+  for ( ; feature_it != featureIdsAfter.constEnd(); ++feature_it )
   {
-    vl->deleteFeature( feature_it->id() );
+    vl->deleteFeature( *feature_it );
   }
 
   vl->addFeature( newFeature, false );
diff --git a/src/core/qgsmaprendererjob.cpp b/src/core/qgsmaprendererjob.cpp
index 317a81c2c85..027a8c16fd6 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsmaprendererjob.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsmaprendererjob.cpp
@@ -166,12 +166,11 @@ LayerRenderJobs QgsMapRendererJob::prepareJobs( QPainter* painter, QgsPalLabelin
       continue;
     }
 
-    QgsDebugMsg( QString( "layer %1:  minscale:%2  maxscale:%3  scaledepvis:%4  extent:%5  blendmode:%6" )
+    QgsDebugMsg( QString( "layer %1:  minscale:%2  maxscale:%3  scaledepvis:%4  blendmode:%5" )
                  .arg( ml->name() )
                  .arg( ml->minimumScale() )
                  .arg( ml->maximumScale() )
                  .arg( ml->hasScaleBasedVisibility() )
-                 .arg( ml->extent().toString() )
                  .arg( ml->blendMode() )
                );
 
diff --git a/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp b/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
index db3ac7a2042..ee844445fa0 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsvectorlayer.cpp
@@ -2327,13 +2327,26 @@ const QgsFeatureIds& QgsVectorLayer::selectedFeaturesIds() const
 QgsFeatureList QgsVectorLayer::selectedFeatures()
 {
   QgsFeatureList features;
-
-  QgsFeatureIterator it = selectedFeaturesIterator();
-
   QgsFeature f;
-  while ( it.nextFeature( f ) )
+
+  if ( mSelectedFeatureIds.count() <= 8 )
   {
-    features.push_back( f );
+    // for small amount of selected features, fetch them directly
+    // because request with FilterFids would go iterate over the whole layer
+    foreach ( int fid, mSelectedFeatureIds )
+    {
+      getFeatures( QgsFeatureRequest( fid ) ).nextFeature( f );
+      features << f;
+    }
+  }
+  else
+  {
+    QgsFeatureIterator it = selectedFeaturesIterator();
+
+    while ( it.nextFeature( f ) )
+    {
+      features.push_back( f );
+    }
   }
 
   return features;
@@ -2341,10 +2354,16 @@ QgsFeatureList QgsVectorLayer::selectedFeatures()
 
 QgsFeatureIterator QgsVectorLayer::selectedFeaturesIterator( QgsFeatureRequest request )
 {
+  if ( mSelectedFeatureIds.count() == 0 )
+    return QgsFeatureIterator();
+
   if ( geometryType() == QGis::NoGeometry )
     request.setFlags( QgsFeatureRequest::NoGeometry );
 
-  request.setFilterFids( mSelectedFeatureIds );
+  if ( mSelectedFeatureIds.count() == 1 )
+    request.setFilterFid( *mSelectedFeatureIds.constBegin() );
+  else
+    request.setFilterFids( mSelectedFeatureIds );
 
   return getFeatures( request );
 }