diff --git a/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp b/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
index 5fea0e1ccc0..5aa5a3ca7e7 100644
--- a/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
+++ b/src/core/qgsmaplayer.cpp
@@ -48,6 +48,7 @@
 #include "qgsvectorlayer.h"
 #include "qgsvectordataprovider.h"
 #include "qgsmaplayerregistry.h"
+#include "qgsxmlutils.h"
 
 
 QgsMapLayer::QgsMapLayer( QgsMapLayer::LayerType type,
@@ -531,6 +532,11 @@ bool QgsMapLayer::writeLayerXML( QDomElement& layerElement, QDomDocument& docume
   layerElement.setAttribute( "minimumScale", QString::number( minimumScale() ) );
   layerElement.setAttribute( "maximumScale", QString::number( maximumScale() ) );
 
+  if ( !mExtent.isNull() )
+  {
+    layerElement.appendChild( QgsXmlUtils::writeRectangle( mExtent, document ) );
+  }
+
   // ID
   QDomElement layerId = document.createElement( "id" );
   QDomText layerIdText = document.createTextNode( id() );
@@ -1212,6 +1218,12 @@ bool QgsMapLayer::importNamedStyle( QDomDocument& myDocument, QString& myErrorMe
   setMinimumScale( myRoot.attribute( "minimumScale" ).toDouble() );
   setMaximumScale( myRoot.attribute( "maximumScale" ).toDouble() );
 
+  QDomNode extentNode = myRoot.namedItem( "extent" );
+  if ( !extentNode.isNull() )
+  {
+    setExtent( QgsXmlUtils::readRectangle( extentNode.toElement() ) );
+  }
+
 #if 0
   //read transparency level
   QDomNode transparencyNode = myRoot.namedItem( "transparencyLevelInt" );