diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.cpp
index a189270b14a..a7262104f1f 100644
--- a/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.cpp
+++ b/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ QgsConfigParser::QgsConfigParser()
     , mOutputUnits( QgsMapRenderer::Millimeters )
 {
   setDefaultLegendSettings();
+  mSelectionColor = QColor( 255, 255, 0 ); //yellow opaque is default selection color
 }
 
 QgsConfigParser::~QgsConfigParser()
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h b/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h
index 81b64533499..bea118d4889 100644
--- a/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h
+++ b/src/mapserver/qgsconfigparser.h
@@ -19,6 +19,7 @@
 #define QGSCONFIGPARSER_H
 
 #include "qgsmaprenderer.h"
+#include <QColor>
 #include <QDomDocument>
 #include <QFont>
 #include <QList>
@@ -113,6 +114,9 @@ class QgsConfigParser
     /**Appends service metadata to the capabilities document*/
     virtual void serviceCapabilities( QDomElement& parentElement, QDomDocument& doc ) const;
 
+    QColor selectionColor() const { return mSelectionColor; }
+    void setSelectionColor( const QColor& c ) { mSelectionColor = c; }
+
   protected:
     /**Parser to forward not resolved requests (e.g. SLD parser based on user request might have a fallback parser with admin configuration)*/
     QgsConfigParser* mFallbackParser;
@@ -150,6 +154,8 @@ class QgsConfigParser
     double mLegendSymbolWidth;
     double mLegendSymbolHeight;
 
+    QColor mSelectionColor;
+
     /**Transforms layer extent to epsg 4326 and appends ExGeographicBoundingBox and BoundingBox elements to the layer element*/
     void appendLayerBoundingBoxes( QDomElement& layerElem, QDomDocument& doc, const QgsRectangle& layerExtent, const QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem& layerCRS ) const;
 
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp
index c9cbc578db1..e1f1e2c8acd 100644
--- a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp
+++ b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.cpp
@@ -1449,7 +1449,7 @@ void QgsProjectParser::setSelectionColor()
     }
   }
 
-  QgsRenderer::setSelectionColor( QColor( red, green, blue, alpha ) );
+  mSelectionColor = QColor( red, green, blue, alpha );
 }
 
 const QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem& QgsProjectParser::projectCRS() const
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h
index 65e5384f828..6f44a662ba0 100644
--- a/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h
+++ b/src/mapserver/qgsprojectparser.h
@@ -154,14 +154,14 @@ class QgsProjectParser: public QgsConfigParser
     /**Converts a (possibly relative) path to absolute*/
     QString convertToAbsolutePath( const QString& file ) const;
 
-    /**Sets global selection color from the project or yellow if not defined in project*/
-    void setSelectionColor();
-
     /**Returns mapcanvas output CRS from project file*/
     const QgsCoordinateReferenceSystem& projectCRS() const;
 
     /**Returns bbox of layer in project CRS (or empty rectangle in case of error)*/
     QgsRectangle layerBoundingBoxInProjectCRS( const QDomElement& layerElem ) const;
+
+    /**Reads selection color from project and sets it to QgsConfigParser::mSelectionColor*/
+    void setSelectionColor();
 };
 
 #endif // QGSPROJECTPARSER_H
diff --git a/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp b/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp
index e133259a1f5..7d6f825a815 100644
--- a/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp
+++ b/src/mapserver/qgswmsserver.cpp
@@ -966,6 +966,9 @@ QImage* QgsWMSServer::initializeRendering( QStringList& layersList, QStringList&
   QgsDebugMsg( QString( "Number of layers to be rendered. %1" ).arg( layerIdList.count() ) );
 #endif
   mMapRenderer->setLayerSet( layerIdList );
+
+  //set selection color prior to each render to avoid problems with caching (selection color is a global property of QgsRenderer)
+  QgsRenderer::setSelectionColor( mConfigParser->selectionColor() );
   return theImage;
 }